Flagstaff Officer Tyler Stewart Shot to Death While Wearing Police Body Camera (VIDEO)

1/15/2015


Well, it's definitely up close and personal.

At the Arizona Republic, "Flagstaff police officer's body camera captures fatal shooting":

EDITOR'S NOTE: The video below is graphic and may not be something you want to see. It was released by Flagstaff Police honoring a public records request by media, including azcentral, The Arizona Republic and 12 News. The video will be part of the ongoing discussion about safety for officers and for the people they encounter, which is why we think it is newsworthy.

There's video at that above link.

And see the Los Angeles Times, "Body camera video of Arizona police officer's killing stirs ethical debate":

The video footage is raw, showing Flagstaff, Ariz., police Officer Tyler Stewart chatting with a man accused of breaking a couple things in his girlfriend's apartment a day earlier. That's what body cameras do: capture the daily work of police officers up close.

"Do you mind if I just pat down your pockets real quick? You don't have anything in here?" Stewart, 24, can be heard asking the suspect, Robert Smith, 28, who had his hands jammed in his pockets. They had been talking in the cold for a few minutes outside Smith's home Dec. 27.

"No, no — my smokes," replies Smith, who had been chuckling moments earlier. Smith then draws a revolver so fast that the gun is almost a blur. The video stops. Stewart is shot five times before Smith fatally shoots himself.

The graphic video altered the usual conversation about body cameras and police accountability by capturing — up close — a polite conversation that instantly turned into a deadly encounter in which the officer had little chance to react.

The Flagstaff Police Department released body camera footage this week in response to several media public records requests.

For several months, nationwide calls for police to wear body cameras have grown as activists and some public officials have pushed for answers after several high-profile use-of-force incidents, including the fatal police shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson Mo.

In Albuquerque this week, body camera footage was used by prosecutors in their decision to seek charges against two police officers after they fatally shot a homeless man while he appeared to be turning away during a standoff.

"That's what these cameras are for," said Tim McGuire, who teaches ethics at the Arizona State University Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. "They're for accountability, and they're designed to minimize controversy and educate the public about how these things come down."

But the Arizona footage raises questions about the balance between the public's right to know and privacy concerns for officers and bystanders as authorities around the country wrestle with how to regulate the rapidly spreading technology.

"We are currently crafting or looking at legislation that may very well discuss this," Levi Bolton Jr., executive director of the 14,000-member Arizona Police Assn., said Wednesday shortly before a meeting to discuss body cameras at Arizona's state Capitol.

"We acknowledge that the public and the media should have access to this information," Bolton said of body camera footage. However, he was concerned about the appropriate timing for its release and whether such footage should be regulated so that confidential informants, undercover officers or victims of sex crimes are not identified...

Hmm... Actually, the body-camera genie's not going back in the bottle at this point. There's too much demand for accountability. If folks are worried about the sensitive nature of these recordings, there should be strict protocols for public release. I suspect the public's right to know, especially in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting death in Ferguson, is going to outweigh worries about privacy, however.

Still more at the link.

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