RICHMOND — The Richmond Police Department will no longer be allowed to add what it claims is vital context to body worn camera footage of officer-involved shootings, a decision city councilmembers said is meant to increase impartiality and reduce public harm.
A new policy adopted by the City Council on Tuesday will require the department to only make edits to body camera video footage from critical incidents that are permitted under Assembly Bill 748. The law limits redactions to only those meant to protect someone’s reasonable expectation of privacy.
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Also included in the new policy is direction for the city to seek out additional services for witnesses and families impacted by officer-involved shootings and for the city manager to work with the police chief and department staff on crafting a public communication policy that details the timing, frequency and transparency of such shootings.
Councilmember Claudia Jimenez, who co-sponsored the item with Councilmember Sue Wilson, said the proposal is meant to restore trust after critical incidents.
“These particular videos give a one-sided point of view which is the police department,” Jimenez said. “Having it more simplified where we’re following state law is a key part of really creating a more transparent process.”
Councilmembers first took up the issue during a contentious Sept. 16 meeting that included shouting matches, rebukes of council leadership and chants to “jail killer cops.” A final decision wasn’t made because the council reached the meeting time limit and was forced to adjourn, pushing the item off until Tuesday.
Tuesday’s meeting came almost two months after the police killing of Angel Montaño, a 27-year-old U.S. Marine Corps reserve officer and Richmond resident. Montaño’s brother had called the police for help after Montaño allegedly began threatening his brother and mother with a knife during a mental health crisis.
The department released a video about a month after the incident that included select clips of the 911 call, dispatch conversation and body camera footage. Sections showing Montaño exiting the home were also slowed down and frozen with lines and boxes drawing attention to knives he had in his hands.
A parade of officers wearing blue union shirts argued Tuesday that the shooting was a “horrible tragedy” but “justified.” Some called the officers who shot Montaño, Colton Stocking and Nicholas Remick, heroes who were only doing what they were trained to do.
Stocking and Remick are currently on administrative leave while an investigation into the shooting continues.
Ben Therriault, president of the Richmond Police Officers Association, asserted both officers will be cleared of any wrongdoing in all investigations and will be permitted to return to work. Therriault said officers are in favor of accountability and transparency, but accused the council of “playing politics” to further their agendas.
“Put faith into your police chief and your command staff. They have done a great job with dealing with this incident, which we’ve all identified as a tragedy,” Therriault said. “Nobody’s hiding anything. Nobody’s concealing anything and when you spread that and push that around, you do what you always do, which is playing politics. You’re not actually doing any governing.”
Police Chief Bisa French also took issue with the proposed changes, noting she wasn’t consulted on the drafting process. French said the changes undermine her authority and could lead to misinformation being spread into the community.
“We do our best to provide as much information as possible as quickly as possible because we know false narratives spread quickly,” French, who announced on Sept. 11 that she’ll be retiring in January, said during the Sept. 16 meeting. “These proposals indicate that I can not be trusted to provide information to the community I have served for 28 years and the community I also live in.”
Friends, family and community members grieved by Montaño’s death alternatively implored the council to adopt the new policies for transparency sake. Some also took issue with members of the police department backing Stocking and Remick, likening the department to a “gang.”
Some in the public are scared of the police department but willing to build bridges while officers seem to want to “tear further away,” Jesus Pedraza, a close friend of Montaño, said during the Sept. 16 meeting. Pedraza and others have called on the police department to release more of the footage, which they say will show officers fired on Montaño more than a dozen times.
“I feel ashamed at the police department because of what’s been done so far. You know there is more to that footage, I know there was more to that footage,” Pedraza said.
On Tuesday, French and the council had come into alignment on aspects of the proposal aside from rules involving body camera footage. She again raised concerns about misinformation being spread if the department is unable to provide context in videos, which she noted is permitted under state law.
Current department practice is to release one version of the body camera footage with only the necessary redactions and another of the same video with added commentary from the department.
Councilmember Jamelia Brown shared support for maintaining that practice, noting viewers can decide which video they’d like to watch. She was one of two councilmembers to vote against adopting the public communication changes.
Vice Mayor Cesar Zepeda, the other nay vote, suggested the council adopt changes to the agreed upon issues while the members who proposed the item, Wilson and Jimenez, work through sticking points on the body camera footage with the chief.
The remaining five members ultimately agreed on moving forward with limiting the department’s ability to add edits outside of what’s required by state law. If the decision creates more harm than good, Wilson said she’d willingly take responsibility, but she ultimately believes jurisdictions across the state will follow suit.
“If I’m wrong and it confuses the heck out of all of Richmonders to see unedited footage, then I’m happy to come up here and admit my mistake,” Wilson said. “But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”