Police camera expansion brings new context, challenges

Jason Pohl
The Coloradoan
Sgt. Dean Cunningham models a body camera worn by Fort Collins police officers at Fort Collins Police Services on Friday, January 13, 2016.

The pair of fatal police shootings that happened last weekend in Fort Collins weren't "unprecedented" due to simple proximity. 

They also presented a case study in the contrasting beliefs that shape body-mounted camera policy across the United States. 

Fort Collins Police Services this summer joined the growing number of U.S. law-enforcement agencies that outfit all their officers with body-mounted cameras. But as the events of June 30 and July 1 show, not everyone is convinced the time is right for every police action to be caught on camera.

Cameras mounted on officers from FCPS and Colorado State University Police Department captured footage from the July 1 shooting of 19-year-old Jeremy Holmes, who was reportedly armed and threatening others near the CSU campus.

That footage is being kept under wraps as the shooting is investigated, but both agencies pledged to release what cameras captured after the review is completed.

The day prior, a Larimer County Sheriff's Office deputy fatally shot 23-year-old vehicular theft suspect Chet Knuppel, who investigators say fled on foot through a field slightly outside the city.

LCSO deputies don't wear body-mounted cameras, so the investigation into the incident will center around accounts from the deputy involved and witnesses.

Recent:Larimer DA: Officers justified in Loveland shooting

Video evidence of an officer's actions has helped debunk excessive force complaints and provide definitive evidence in criminal cases tried in communities across the U.S.

But as wearable camera use expands, will evidence made public aid in the nation's understanding of police work, or provide a new source of graphic fodder for those determined to paint any police actions in a negative light? 

“I think the next big challenge for us as a department and profession is starting to explain why things happen," Fort Collins Police Services Sgt. Dean Cunningham said. "People are going to see videos now, and we’re going to need to talk to people and explain what’s going on.”

Fort Collins goes all in

Fort Collins Police Services in recent weeks finalized a major expansion to its body-mounted camera program, more than doubling the number of officers wearing the pen-sized devices. 

With complete implementation, the number of officers with cameras spiked from 63 at the start of the year to 134 this month. Everyone who regularly wears a uniform — the exception being school resource officers, detectives and a few others — now has either an Axon Flex 2 or Axon Body 2 camera.

This summer's expansion is the culmination of a five-year effort built from the ground up, full of successes and not without hiccups.

Fort Collins police to double body camera program

But over time, Fort Collins' effort it has become a model for police departments and policymakers.  

"It was all hands on deck," said Cunningham, the department's camera guru who has taken the reins on issues of camera training, data storage and industry standards. 

FCPS signed a five-year, $885,000 contract with Axon, formerly known as Taser International, late last year to double the number of body-mounted cameras worn by its officers. That contract included unlimited data storage, eliminating a commonly cited barrier to implementation of camera programs.

Officials are still working to iron out data transfer challenges with the district attorney's office.

In anteing up cash for the camera expansion, Fort Collins joined the ranks of departments near and far that are throwing their weight behind the cameras. 

“I think the mutual accountability between the police department and the community is a huge reason why we wanted everybody to have a camera,” Cunningham said.

The Colorado State University Police Department is wrapping up a pilot phase of body cameras and is working to implement them throughout the agency.Cameras were recently issued to 19 patrol officers, with an additional five newly hired officers set to receive cameras once they are assigned to the patrol division. Ten officers assigned to other units will get cameras once they complete training, said Dell Rae Ciaravola, department spokeswoman. 

The university police's body-mounted camera program stemmed from officer requests. 

"The main benefit is that each contact, regardless of the reason for the contact, is captured objectively, truthfully and in real time," Ciaravola said. "It arguably provides the best evidence of all incidents."

More:Old Town arrest fans body camera debate

Loveland police have long expressed an interest in the cameras. Chief Bob Ticer said a new captain who starts this month will take the lead on that effort — testing could begin later this year with further expansion possible in 2018.

The Denver Police Department is among the largest departments in the country to fully implement cameras into police work. After piloting a camera program in 2014, the department is in the process of outfitting roughly 1,400 officers with the devices, including everyone on the patrol division, Commander James Henning said.

"Everybody has this impression that somehow this is the magic wand," Henning said. "It's really not. It's just another tool that helps us understand what happened." 

(Watch the body camera footage from an officer-involved shooting incident below. Warning: This video contains graphic material.) 

Roughly one in three Colorado law-enforcement agencies have a body-mounted camera program, according to a 2015 survey of 170 agencies by the state peace officer standards and training board within the Colorado Attorney General's Office.

While agencies with cameras continually praise their capability of fulfilling courtroom expectations — jurors expect video, and prosecutors place a high value on video evidence — not everyone is sold. 

Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith remains in wait-and-see mode, balking at the costs that come with camera programs. Data storage remains a costly challenge, and departments everywhere are adding evidence technicians to process recordings — for perspective, Fort Collins in June logged 3,100 case videos into the system. 

A staff member processing video is a person who is not out patrolling the streets, Smith said. He also cited inconsistencies in deciding when and what to record and what happens if video captured during a critical incident isn't as clear-cut as the public expects. 

"Even with the video, it doesn't tell you everything," Smith said Friday. "It doesn't add up to be the right decision." 

California city leads the charge

Cameras were a top priority when former Fort Collins Police Chief John Hutto took the helm of the department in December 2011. It was a different era in many regards — the iPhone 4 was top of the line, and Ferguson, Missouri, was not part of the national debate on police action. 

Police departments across the country had long dabbled with video technology in the form of dashboard cameras, interview room interrogations and crime scene processing.

The concept of wearing recording devices was relatively novel. 

Then came Tony Farrar, the retired chief of the Rialto Police Department in Southern California.

At the time Farrar was working on a doctoral research project, a couple Rialto officers started wearing cameras of their own. That sparked a question: How might cameras affect police work and public perceptions? 

He created a randomized and controlled research project that marked the first scientific study of how body-mounted cameras affected police interaction with the public. Among the findings: after cameras were introduced in February 2012, public complaints against officers dropped by 87 percent and use of force by police officers dropped by 59 percent compared to the year prior. 

It was a landmark project still heralded within law enforcement. Farrar was asked to speak at functions around the country about the research, and the case for cameras was made.  

Meanwhile in Fort Collins, Cunningham, the sergeant in Old Town, became the first cop in the city to wear a camera. Soon, 20 FCPS officers were recording interactions and getting a feel for the devices' strengths and shortcomings. 

Cory Christensen, former assistant chief of Fort Collins police and the ranking officer in charge of bringing cameras to the Choice City back then, traveled to a conference outside of Phoenix. It was there he attended a session led by Farrar, who spoke about his research and the value in recording police work. 

“It solidified for me the positive sides of the cameras,” Christensen, now the police chief in Steamboat Springs, recalled this week in a telephone interview.

From there, the policy work revved up.

Christensen said roughly 40 percent of the body-mounted camera policy, in Fort Collins, which remains online, was input that came directly from the American Civil Liberties Union and a 2013 white paper on the topic.

“The idea was everybody wants to see the truth,” Christensen said. “That’s what we’re after.”

Challenges have continually arisen.

Fort Collins previously identified an issue with video logging, and there are continual battles with data storage and handling that have forced new staffing needs. There is also a cost in reviewing video throughout the course of a criminal investigation.

Still, supporters say the footage and perspective could pay for themselves if and when a use of force complaint or lawsuit is filed and later dismissed due to video evidence. 

"With the body cameras, it's just another thing that helps us get a mind’s eye of what the officers were facing," Larimer County District Attorney Cliff Riedel said earlier this year when footage was released from a fatal shooting. 

Two different angles captured that scene when police shot and killed a knife-clutching man slightly outside city limits. In the days after that video was released, an officer with a body-mounted camera shot and wounded an armed man who stormed out of a residence in an apparent attempt to die at the hands of police.

More recently, the Old Town arrest of a woman who was thrown to the pavers outside a bar after allegedly assaulting an officer drew international headlines when a nine-second bystander video surfaced. Though the incident was captured on body-mounted cameras, footage has not yet been released — something officials say will change once the court case against the woman concludes.

Top brass in agencies from Fort Collins to Rialto have continually said the decision to make video public is made on a case-by-case basis — if community outrage gets to the point of threatening public safety, for example, the decision to release footage could come sooner rather than later.

The example of the fallout from the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson is the oft-cited case. 

"Our philosophy in our organization is if something like that occurs and the release of that video will ease tensions and provide clarity, we will release it," Rialto Police Capt. William Wilson said in a telephone interview this week. 

In the time since the California town inspired many to pursue camera programs, Fort Collins has served as a leader for its policy and protocols. Both Christensen, who has enhanced cameras in Steamboat Springs, and Cunningham continued to travel to conferences as the agency incrementally expanded its program from two to 20 to 60 and, most recently, to 134 officers. 

"I get calls on a fairly regular basis," Cunningham said, referring to other agencies looking to implement a camera program. "I tell them the same thing: Take the opportunity to learn from our scars, you have to do what works within the community." 

New technology, new challenges

The words "artificial intelligence" and "facial recognition" are floated with regularity when it comes to body-mounted cameras — Demolition Man references often aren't far behind. While camera giants like Axon are certainly exploring that technology, law enforcement officials say you shouldn't expect it anytime soon at the local level.

Instead, many point to three general areas of focus for the future.

First, there's the question of consistency in deployment and usage. Departments like the Larimer County Sheriff's Office remain on the sidelines, while Fort Collins goes to full deployment.

Meanwhile, Denver's full roll-out has been expanded in recent weeks to include officers who moonlight at security gigs at events. The logic is that a cop doing police work is still a cop, regardless of whether the city or a private entity is paying the bill, Henning said. 

“I feel like we’re kind of on phase one. This is a big deal," Henning said. “We’re all kind of brand new in this together, so everybody is working together to  come up with the best policies that match their state law." 

Second, technology is being developed that ensures activation in certain scenarios. 

As part of the Fort Collins contract with Axon, each of the 134 officer with a camera will also carry a Taser. New additions make it possible for every camera in a 30-foot radius to become activated the moment an officer turns off the safety on their Taser. 

"The cameras don’t do any good if they’re not turned on," Cunningham said

Live video streams might not be far off, either, to the point where dispatchers and commanders could see in real-time what officers are seeing. That could mean dispatchers could deploy resources even before an officer calls for backup or realizes the danger of a situation. 

Ultimately, public access to video still varies widely across state lines and even within Colorado. Each department adheres to a slightly different guidelines when it comes to redaction and disseminating video to news media outlets. 

As much as videos are said to protect officers and enhance public transparency, they also facilitate an unavoidable armchair quarterback effect. Police know that, much like they know there’s a continuum of people they're catering to. 

On one side: Those who oppose everything police do and never believe what police say.

On the other: Those who support absolutely everything police say, who believe police can do no harm.

The bulk of people are in the middle, Christensen said, willing to reserve judgement and consider the evidence and various viewpoints. They might not be the most vocal in online comments sections, but it’s that silent majority that's critical.

“If we give the video at least we have a common ground to discuss,” Christensen said. “Those are the people that we’re doing this for. And in my opinion, that’s the majority of the public. It helps us in telling that story.”

Reporter Jason Pohl covers public safety for the Coloradoan. Follow him on Twitter: @pohl_jason. 

Body camera programs in Colorado's largest cities

Major Colorado cities with some sort of body-mounted camera program (pilot or broader roll out). 

  1. Denver: Yes
  2. Colorado Springs: Yes
  3. Aurora: Yes 
  4. Fort Collins: Yes
  5. Boulder: Yes

Timeline of body-mounted camera milestones in Fort Collins

August 2012: Twenty patrol officers, primarily those working the city’s Old Town beat, begin using body-mounted cameras to record arrests and other interactions. 

Spring 2014: Police expand the body-mounted camera program from 20 to 60, noting successes both in terms of investigations and in public transparency. 

Aug. 9, 2014: The national conversation surrounding body-mounted cameras ramps up in the wake of a fatal shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. As demands for accountability increased, and thousands of people demanded departments across the U.S. create camera programs, Fort Collins found itself ahead of the curve.  

March 2015: Larimer County District Attorney Cliff Riedel told county commissioners about the crushing amount of data and the needs for more staff resources. The Wall Street Journal later quoted him for a similar story about data management and body cameras. 

September 2015: Police discuss plans to expand the body-mounted camera program to include all patrol officers, noting in news stories that the move could be stalled by funding woes. 

April 2016: The chief of police announces officers incorrectly logged some body-mounted camera footage in the years since the program's inception. He adds steps have been taken to remedy the issue. 

Aug. 25, 2016: Police officers fatally shot 63-year-old Jerry Jackson on the outskirts of north Fort Collins. The shooting was captured on two officers' cameras, marking the first time a Fort Collins police shooting was captured on the devices. 

December 2016: Officials sign $885,000 contract with Taser International, now known as Axon, to double its number of body-mounted cameras, signaling the agency's final push for complete camera roll-out 

Jan. 13, 2017: Police release a pair of videos from the Aug. 25 shooting, the first captured on the department's body-mounted cameras. 

Jan. 21, 2017: Police officers shoot and injure 25-year-old Austin Snodgrass in west Fort Collins. The shooting was captured on body-mounted camera, the second time such an event was recorded. The agency has since vowed to release the video upon conclusion of Snodgrass's court case, set for trial later this year.  

April 6, 2017: An FCPS officer throws Michaella Surat to the pavers in Old Town after a reported scuffle at a bar. A 9-second bystander video captures part of the interaction, and police later vow to release body-mounted camera footage once the court case against her concludes, possibly as soon as this month. 

July 1, 2017: Police officers from Fort Collins and Colorado State University shoot and kill 19-year-old Jeremy Holmes near campus. Officers from both agencies were wearing cameras, and both have vowed to release video upon completion of the investigation. 

July 2017: Fort Collins police trains its newest officers on body-mounted camera policy and protocol, capping the long-awaited complete roll-out of the devices to 134 officers almost everyone from the lieutenant level down who has interactions with the public.