Body camera video of fatal shootings by Kansas City area police won’t be released quickly
Transparency was a common word used as both Kansas City and Kansas City, Kansas, police departments implemented their policies regarding body camera.
That refrain came up again a little more than a week ago when Kansas City and Kansas City, Kansas, police officers shot and killed 25-year-old Dario Dominguez, a carjacking suspect, after he allegedly fired at officers at the end of a police chase near 18th Street and Parallel Parkway in Kansas City, Kansas.
“We need to have transparency,” Lisa Walker-Yeager, a candidate for 1st District commissioner in Wyandotte County, said at the time. She was among those who gathered at the scene the day of the shooting.
But that might take time as open record laws in both Kansas and Missouri permit both departments to keep body cam footage from public scrutiny while the crime is being investigated.
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Under Kansas law, however, those who feel they have been treated by unfairly by police can make a written request to listen to audio or view a recording from a body or vehicle camera, said Nancy Chartrand, a public information officer for the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.
That includes the person who is the subject of the video, the parent or legal guardian if that person is under 18 years old, the person’s attorney and that person’s heir at law or administrator of an estate, she said.
The department rolled out its body and new in-car cameras in February. All officers whose assignments place them in contact with the public on a daily basis, such as patrol, community policing and traffic, in addition to sergeants, were issued body cameras.
According the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department’s body cam policy, officers are meant to wear and activate body cams in any encounter with citizens and are permitted to turn off body cameras when:
The event has concluded;
Victim and/or witness contact has concluded;
All persons stopped have been released;
Once the individual arrested has been put in the vehicle headed for the detention center (however, the officer transporting the individual must keep the body cam on);
If it’s necessary to discuss details regarding an investigation with a supervisor (however, the officer must state the reason for turning the body cam off).
The policy for KCK police states that officers who use deadly force are not allowed to review body cam footage until they are interviewed by investigators, and a commanding officer gives approval. When doing so, however, the policy does allow for “additional statements or clarification to be documented.”
The Missouri Sunshine Law governs what people have access to when it comes to in-car camera or a body worn camera video, said Sgt. Jacob Becchina in January as Kansas City police announced it was equipping additional officers with body cameras.
“Many times it’s part of an ongoing investigations and that camera footage is protected for the sake of the investigation,” he said. “So it would be part of the investigative file and it would not be available in an open and ongoing investigation. Once that investigation criminal investigation is closed then all of that investigative file becomes a public record.”
Dominguez died at a hospital after he allegedly exchanged gunfire with police about 11:50 a.m. June 20 near 18th Street and Parallel Parkway.
Kansas City police had tried to pull over a Ford Expedition identified in an armed carjacking that occurred a few days before in Kansas City, Kansas.
Dominguez allegedly did not yield so officers pursued him into Kansas City, Kansas.
The chase ended when the SUV crashed behind a convenience store. Footage captured by officers’ body and dash cameras showed Dominguez ran west toward 18th Street with a handgun, police said.
Dominguez allegedly turned and shot at officers, who returned fire and struck him, police said.
