The Justice Department may change course and let police officers wear body cameras during joint operations with federal agents, the Wall Street Journal reports. Despite the growing number of police departments that require body cameras for public accountability, DOJ bars federal agents from using them, saying that recording their work would jeopardize sensitive investigations. The policy applies to local police who work with them on joint task forces. Several police departments expressed concern with the ban on the use of body cameras during joint missions. The issue came to a head after Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields withdrew from federal task forces in May. Shields had ordered that her officers involved in task forces wear body cameras after an incident in which an Atlanta officer shot and killed a fugitive while working with the FBI.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, plans to meet with DOJ officials to discuss the issue. Houston is in the process of outfitting its officers with body cameras. “I’m very hopeful that we’ll be able to craft an agreement in short order before the end of the summer,” Acevedo said. “If we don’t have a resolution, you’ll start to see local agencies pulling out of the task forces.” One plan under consideration is allowing officers to wear cameras only when executing search or arrest warrants. Any policy change would be a major undertaking, as federal agencies have no rules on how footage should be stored or used in court cases and when cameras should be turned off or on. In St. Paul, Mn., four city officers were kicked off a U.S. Marshals task force after Police Chief Todd Axtell informed federal law enforcement that his officers needed to wear body cameras in accordance with city policy.