Police Officer Michael T. Slager shot and killed Walter Scott in the back as he ran away. The video that surfaced showing the killing reveals how unnecessary it was. The mayor of North Charleston has called for police to wear body cameras. People reading this in Sonoma County, I’m sure, hear echoes of the shooting of Andrew Lopez by Deputy Erick Gelhaus. Deputy Gelhaus, unlike Michael Slager, was not charged with murder or any other crime. However, the question that has divided the community here is, was the shooting necessary? In facts well known to those in the community, Deputy Gelhaus states that he pulled up behind Andy, who was holding a replica AK-47 pellet gun. A witness stated that he heard Deputy Gelhaus tell Andy to drop the weapon twice. Deputy Gelhaus stated he fired his weapon when Andy turned and the barrel appeared to rise toward him. There was no video of the encounter. In North Charleston, prior to the emergence of a video showing the incident, Officer Slager stated in his report of the shooting that he feared for his life after Walter Scott took his TAZER from him during the arrest. Anyone reading the report could imagine Walter Scott raising a TAZER towards Officer Slager, forcing Officer Slager to shoot him. This depiction of events would have cleared the officer of any wrongdoing, if the incident hadn’t been captured by a citizen walking by. The video clearly shows an unarmed Walter Scott running from the officer as he was gunned down. As citizens in California, we have a right to video the police as long as long as the person recording is standing far enough from the officer that the officer does not feel threatened and as long as the person recording is not a physical barrier to the officer in the discharge of his or her duties. If you are recording an officer, and the officer asks what you are doing, you can tell them you are exercising your First Amendment right to film them. Here is a great article the right to record police in California. Like North Charleston, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s department will soon outfit all of its officers with body cams. This raises privacy right issues as to both when police can lawfully record private citizens and who has access to these recordings. As long as there are restrictions on when police can record interactions with private citizens in their homes, I am for police using body cams. Here’s why: use of force by police declined by 60% during the first year of their use by officers in Rialto, CA. Would Deputy Gelhaus have shot Andy Lopez if he had been wearing a body camera? Would Michael Slager have shot Walter Scott. I don’t know. But I can be confident that Michael Slager’s actions would have been different if he had known his actions would be recorded and played back for all of humanity to see.
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AuthorJason Tauches is an attorney and writer who lives in Massachusetts. Archives
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