Public Safety Chairman Reacts to Police Body Camera Policy Changes

Pasadena Public Safety Committee Chair John J. Kennedy said he sees a positive direction in the Pasadena Police Department’s decision to revise sections of the policy that governs the use of body-worn cameras by the City’s police force and the videos that are recorded.

Councilmember Kennedy said he may not be entirely pleased with the new changes, but that “progress is being made on a complicated issue.”

The decision by Chief of Police Phillip Sanchez to make the policy changes came after public outcry, a lawsuit filed by the Pasadena branch of the NAACP and Kennedy’s proposal to open discussions on how the Council itself could countermand some of the Policy’s provisions erupted in the days following the November 7, 2016 release of the original body camera policy.

Arguably the original policy’s most controversial provision labelled all video recorded on police body camera “investigative materials,” which made the videos exempt from public disclosure. Activists said they were outraged, claiming that provision would prevent the release of videos to the public and could cover up police wrongdoing.

The new revisions replace that provision with a looser policy, which affirms a commitment to “endeavor to release BWC (body worn camera) recordings to the greatest extent possible.”

Kennedy’s reacted by saying that “the objective is to bring as much transparency and good government as possible to the policy associated with the implementation of body-worn cameras. Slowly, there appears to be more movement in that direction.”

City and police officials said Wednesday they have reworded some parts of the policy to make it more respectful of the public’s First Amendment rights, and to clarify policy relative to situations when the department can or cannot be compelled to release video footage taken with the body cams.

When the body-worn cameras were first deployed in November, Kennedy reacted strongly, saying the police did not adequately consider public input before finalizing the provisions of the policy.

“It sure is not in the best interest of open and transparent government, and not in the best interest of this community and not consistent with good public policy,” Kennedy had said.

In his most recent comments, Kennedy indicated Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez and City Manager Steve Mermell are showing more respect for the City Council and the people of Pasadena.

“The City Council must do all that it can to ensure mutual respect, cooperation and full engagement in ‘community policing.’ In my view, incremental progress is being made to the extent that the actions of the Council, City Manager Mermell, and Police Chief Sanchez are aligned to help foster that goal,” Kennedy concluded.