Body-cam video in fatal Duncan Lemp raid confirms police did not record shooting
The video is basically a walk-through of the home in the aftermath of the shooting. The video captures different occupants of the house and — inside Lemp’s bed room — reveals a white sheet positioned over his physique. None of the entrance line SWAT officers, per county coverage, wore physique cameras throughout the raid.
Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones not too long ago mentioned the division will change its physique digicam rules to require all SWAT officers to put on the units, simply because the county’s uniformed patrol officers have worn them for a number of years. That change is predicted to be rolled out early this yr, Jones mentioned.
The shooting of Lemp was dominated justified by prosecutors, in response to a 17-page report they launched two weeks in the past. The officer who shot Lemp did so, prosecutors concluded, after Lemp ignored instructions to lift his palms as he acquired out his mattress, grabbed an assault-style rifle, and pointed it on the officer, the report mentioned.
Lemp had caught the eye of police after they acquired ideas that he illegally possessed weapons and had written on-line that he was an energetic member of a self-proclaimed armed group, prosecutors mentioned. Police additionally suspected, in response to the report, that Lemp had been illegally manufacturing and promoting “ghost guns,” which don’t have serial numbers and may’t be traced.
Since his fatal shooting, Lemp has develop into a beloved martyr amongst anti-government extremists across the nation. The lack of physique digicam footage has fueled hypothesis from them and others about his loss of life.
Prosecutors constructed their findings in giant half on accounts by the officer and by Lemp’s girlfriend, which differed on when the officer began shooting. Both witnesses, although, mentioned that sooner or later Lemp raised his weapon on the officer, in response to prosecutors. And forensic proof from Lemp’s bed room supported the officer’s statements, prosecutors mentioned.
But because the report made clear, and the recordings launched Monday confirmed, prosecutors had no video or audio proof to check with witness statements. Such recordings have gotten extra frequent for investigations into police-involved shootings.
“Once the house was secured,” prosecutors reported, “it appears that a police officer, using body worn camera equipment, entered the house and went from room to room in order to document the scene. Investigators determined that very little evidentiary value could be obtained from this recording as it was conducted after the raid was over.”
The body-camera video recorded three assault-style rifles discovered in Lemp’s bed room. One was beneath a settee, in response to the video. One was hanging on a wall, in response to the video. One had been positioned on Lemp’s mattress. That rifle, an officer could be heard saying, was discovered subsequent to Lemp’s physique earlier than it was moved by medics.
The video additionally reveals a handgun on Lemp’s nightstand, and a booby lure hooked up to a door — a door prevented by the SWAT workforce — that led from exterior the home immediately into Lemp’s bed room.
Lemp’s members of the family have lengthy held that the police exaggerated the risk he posed. His household has mentioned police obtained a no-knock warrant primarily based on flimsy proof, opened fireplace on him whereas he was nonetheless asleep, after which burst into his room and stomped on his neck — assertions contradicted by the report. Attorneys for Lemp’s household and his girlfriend have pushed again in opposition to the findings in the report.
Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy applauded the police division’s choice to outfit SWAT workforce members with physique cameras, saying it should lend nice transparency to the raids and supply necessary proof in any future investigations.
“I think that’s a terrific move. The exception for SWAT officers never made sense to me,” McCarthy mentioned. “Had body camera footage existed, this case could have been done much quicker.”
Tom Hucker, the president of the Montgomery County Council and a longtime member of its Public Safety Committee, mentioned Monday he’ll search an in depth rationalization from police commanders of why front-line SWAT workforce members have been exempted from having to put on physique cameras. He supported the division’s intention to develop the cameras to all SWAT officers, however stays troubled that the fatal shooting of Lemp wasn’t recorded.
“That’s the kind of thing that will erode the public’s confidence in the police department,” Hucker mentioned.
After the shooting, media and authorities accountability organizations made formal requests to Montgomery County for the physique digicam footage. Police officers declined to launch the footage and to explain how in depth, or restricted, the recordings wore.
Leading the push for the video’s launch was Judicial Watch, a conservative group identified for submitting Freedom of Information requests to federal businesses. The group requested the Montgomery County police video, it acknowledged, as a part of its mission to inform the general public “what their government is up to.”
Montgomery officers denied the preliminary requests from Judicial Watch, The Washington Post and different organizations, saying that doing so may intervene with the continued investigation. Judicial Watch sued the county over the denial, litigation that is still pending in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
When Montgomery County carried out its body-worn digicam program in 2016 amid nationwide requires elevated police accountability, the division mandated them for patrol officers, in response to police division paperwork. SWAT officers have been exempt, as officers feared that recordings launched to the general public may reveal raid techniques and endanger officers and future operations.
The notion that physique digicam movies will reveal techniques has traditionally been a priority for SWAT officers, nevertheless it’s one which’s fading, mentioned Thor Eells, government director of the National Tactical Officers Association. The footage that will get launched, he says, tends to be from particular person SWAT officers, revealing solely a small a part of the bigger raid technique. The trade-off — displaying the general public how sure elements of raids unfolded — serves SWAT groups higher in the long term, in response to Eells.
“You’re not exactly giving up the crown jewels,” he mentioned. “And in the vast majority of these cases, video exonerates allegations against the officers.”
In 2018, Montgomery police prolonged physique digicam necessities to SWAT “team leaders,” who are sometimes positioned in the rear of raids and fewer probably to make use of pressure in contrast with front-line tactical officers. Team leaders are required to activate cameras “immediately preceding the entry of the target location,” in response to written company directives, however are allowed to keep away from recording “when possible and in a manner which does not compromise the safety” of the workforce.
