The Police Department “firmly believes that video is a useful tool for capturing what did happen, or what did not happen, regardless of what an officer may have perceived at the time, and that review of that piece of evidence is useful to allow an officer to ensure that her statement is as factually accurate as it can be at the time it is written,” Brian Maxey, the department’s chief operating officer, writes in a declaration to the court.
Maxey adds that the overwhelming majority of police departments allow video review before reporting any use of force.
What the monitor and city do agree on is that officers shouldn’t be allowed to view video before they write reports on the most serious use-of-force cases investigated by the department’s Force Investigation Team, including officer-involved shootings.
But in acknowledging the importance of acquiring perceptual statements in those instances, the city’s attorneys note “this recognition is based on … ensuring community trust and confidence” and not “a belief that an officer’s statement will become impermissibly tainted by a review of video.