Portland Police Union and City, Reach Deal on Body Camera Use

PORTLAND, Ore. β€”The office of Mayor Ted Wheeler said late Thursday 20 April 2023Β that the city of Portland and the Portland Police Association, which is the union for police officers, have made a deal about the use of body cameras by police officers.

In its news release, the mayor’s office didn’t say much about the deal. Thursday night, an email sent to Wheeler’s office asking for information about the deal was not answered.

Portland Police Union and City, Reach Deal on Body Camera Use

“The City and the PPA have long agreed that body-worn cameras are an important tool for supporting and enhancing public trust in law enforcement,” Wheeler’s office said in its news release.

“It was important to all parties that our policy was consistent with common practice, supported the unique needs of our city, and addressed privacy and transparency concerns highlighted by the community. It was also vital that the policy is usable for officers and supported by science.”

The mayor’s office says that the city and the police union worked together “in a positive way” to come up with a deal.

After getting off a plane at Portland International Airport at around 11 p.m., Aaron Schmautz, the head of the Portland Police Association, spoke briefly with the media. He said that the city is likely to release more information on Friday morning.

“This is not an attempt to hide the ball. “At the end of the day, the most important thing is that we want everyone who took part in the discussion to be able to see where we ended up,” he said.

He said that the union is happy with the deal and that the U.S. Department of Justice has given a conditional OK to the plan.

Β Check out the most recent updates, given below-

Schmautz did say that there would be a 60-day test program that would start with the police department’s FIT and Central Precinct officers. The scheme was supposed to be up and running by the summer, and by the end of the year, every officer would have a body camera.

Portland is the only big city where police officers don’t have body cams.

The city and the PPA have been arguing for years about a body camera policy, especially about whether or not an officer can look at camera footage before making a report after an officer-involved shooting or other use of force.

When a cop used force, the union wanted its officers to be able to look at camera footage before writing reports.

Even with a referee, the city and the union couldn’t come to an agreement last February.

(Source)

Louis
Louis Ebert

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