As the adage goes, you shouldn’t put the cart before the horse — or in this case, you shouldn’t put the body camera on an officer without the union first agreeing to the policy.
According to FOX 25, the Oklahoma City Police Department implemented its new police body camera program before Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 123 signed off on the policy. The quarrel sent the issue to arbitration. In mid-June, an arbitrator sided with the local union, sending the FOP and police leaders back to the table for negotiating its body camera policy.
The devices have become a popular political response to recent national incidents of police misconduct and brutality.
The union isn’t against using body cams on officers. It just wants to discuss the change in workplace conditions, FOP President John George told the TV station.
“It’s really frustrating that we now have to shelve a product that was good for the citizens and the officers,” George told FOX 25. “We don’t want a supervisor to be able to sit down there all day and watch officers to find things wrong.”
The TV station spoke to Police Chief Bill Citty, who explained the policy was fair and the FOP had a seat at the table when the policy was drafted.
Print headline: Body cam debacle
This article appears in Jun 29 – Jul 5, 2016.