Denver’s independent monitor has been asked to serve on the American Bar Association task force on law enforcement body cameras, officials announced Thursday.
Nicholas Mitchell, who , will collaborate with police chiefs, prosecutors, a federal judge, civil liberties advocates and researchers to establish a national standard on the proper use of body cameras by law enforcement, according to an Office of the Independent Monitor news release.
The task force will tackle issues regarding the First Amendment, body camera equipment concerns, data retention and ideas about who should be wearing the cameras, the release said.
The task force’s first meeting will be held on Sept. 21.
During an analysis of the Denver police’s pilot program, Mitchell found that .
Cases where officers punched people, used pepper spray or Tasers, or struck people with batons were not recorded because officers , technical malfunctions occurred or because the cameras were not distributed to enough people, Mitchell’s report said.
The Denver Police Department disputed Mitchell’s numbers, saying its preliminary reports indicate a much higher percentage of use-of-force cases were captured on video.
While the department has not said whether it plans to adopt any of Mitchell’s recommendations, the department agreed to a $6.1 million deal with Taser International to provide body cameras for its patrol officers for the next five years. The department will buy 800 cameras.
The department has not started fielding the cameras or announced how the program officially will be run.
Elizabeth Hernandez: 303-954-1223, ehernandez@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ehernandez
