PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — After several months of negotiations, The City of Portland and Portland Police Association have announced they still can’t reach an agreement on body camera policies – further delaying efforts to equip Portland police.
Portland is the only city of its size with a police force that doesn’t wear body cameras, but the impasse comes down to when officers should be allowed to review camera footage.
The city says officers should not be allowed to look at recordings before writing a report or giving a statement about situations involving use of force. The union says officers should.
Sgt. Aaron Schmautz said PPA’s position has been the same for about 12 years.
“The policy that we’re seeking is consistent with best practice. It’s consistent with every agency in the state, every major agency around the country,” Schmautz said.
In a final offer submitted to the state employee relations board Friday, the union laid out the policy that said an officer may have the opportunity to review recording before writing any kind of report.
Meanwhile, the city’s final offer on Friday said officers would be allowed to watch camera recordings when writing police reports for incidents without use of force.
In situations where the officer used non-deadly force, the city says the officer would have to provide a full and candid statement before reviewing any footage.
And when it comes to deadly force, the city’s proposed policy also said officers would not have access to any body camera footage unless authorized by the police chief.
The next step is mediation, but selecting an arbitrator for mediation could be a long process.
“I wish that we could push out a policy commensurate with best practice because it’s really important that we get these cameras in the street,” Schmautz said.
According to current state law, Oregon State Police allows officers to look at footage when writing a report as well as review it before being questioned in an officer involved shooting or use of force incident.
Almost all agencies in the metro area have similar policies.
Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office has yet to respond to KOIN 6 News’ request for comment.