New videos released by Charleston Police Department could be a good first step toward a proactive body-camera disclosure policy, but only if the department commits to additional steps to let the public see how its officers handle high-pressure situations.
Charleston’s new Critical Incident Briefing Project is the first of its kind for our area. As part of the initiative, videos produced by department personnel will stitch together body-worn camera footage, 911 call audio, 3D maps and more in hopes of providing a comprehensive picture of incidents where police use force in the line of duty. Adding contextual information has the potential to help the public better understand complicated incidents.
Unfortunately, public scrutiny of body-camera video is rare in South Carolina, where state transparency laws carve out an exemption for the police footage. That means when the City Paper or someone acting in the public interest requests it, law enforcement can say, “No, thanks.”
Additionally, while state law mandates the use of body cameras, it does not provide funding for them or consequences for using them improperly or not at all. Today, it’s impossible to know what S.C. departments are using body cameras or whether officers who do have them are using them.
In that sense, the Charleston project could provide built-in accountability to ensure officers follow rules. They’ll know that proof of any improper behavior won’t be shielded from public view by a lenient state law.
In short: We’re glad to see the Charleston Police Department taking steps that could force a culture change within law enforcement.
But residents deserve rock-solid police transparency that serves the people who are being policed, not improvised projects from a patchwork of so-called “progressive” agencies.
State lawmakers must strengthen the state’s body-camera law to mandate full disclosure instead of allowing the law to be used to shield the whole truth or to protect bad cops.
Skeptics and watchdogs will remain rightfully wary of internal efforts to control the release of public information, which means any purportedly proactive transparency policies have to go above and beyond to help rebuild tenuous community relationships with police.
If the Charleston Police Department wants its Critical Incident Briefing Project to be an example for others, we have three suggestions:
Release uncut footage. Most people will only watch the department-produced critical incident videos. But in the spirit of full transparency, CPD should also release all unedited videos for full examination.
Pick a policy and stick to it. Which police interactions get videos can’t be determined on a case-by-case basis. Use an independently created policy that lays out when a video will be made and make the policy public. No judgment calls.
Disclose who worked on videos. Name all producers, editors and other department employees involved with the creation of each critical incident video.
If handled consistently, Charleston’s Critical Incident Briefing Project can show one approach to transparency and accountability to other South Carolina law enforcement leaders so violent uses of force can be reduced.
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