Pueblo police department finalizing body-camera policies

Pueblo police are finalizing body-worn camera policies before officers will be expected to wear them while on patrol.

Deputy Chief Troy Davenport said patrol officers could begin wearing them by next week.

Chief Luis Velez is meeting with members of the Human Relations Commission on Thursday to discuss the proposed policies. Kristi Martinez, vice chair of HRC, plans on attending the meeting.

One of the questions she wants to pose to Velez is about privacy. “If they walk into someone’s home wearing a camera, does that person’s right to privacy trump the officer’s need to have the camera on?,” Martinez asked.

Of most concern to her is that officers won’t be required to have their cameras recording during their entire shift. “There’s going to be a lot of officer discretion as to when the officer can activate or deactivate the camera. I think that should be addressed adequately in the policy,” Martinez said.

Davenport has previously said that it would be unrealistic to have each officer record his/her entire day because of the amount of space that would take up in their system.

“Ideally those cameras would stay on all the time but that’s just impossible,” Martinez said.

She added that she wants to press upon Velez that video should be saved for an extended period of time. How long officers will be expected to keep video has not been released.

“I think one of the benefits that we’re going to get out of this is the ability for officers to review that footage for training purposes,” Martinez said.

The Human Relations Commission is hosting a meeting at Rawlings Library Jan. 14 entitled “Are body worn cameras providing more accountability? It begins at 5:30 p.m. on the fourth floor in the Ryals room.

Sgt. Eric Gonzales said Pueblo police would not comment on the policies under consideration until they’re finalized.