At body camera forum, Franklin County officials hear from family of Casey Goodson Jr.

The family of Casey Goodson Jr., who was fatally shot by a Franklin County Sheriff's office deputy, and others spoke out Monday during a town hall meeting held to receive feedback on new body cameras that will eventually be worn by the county's approximately 565 sheriff's deputies.

More than 50 people attended the event held at Columbus Downtown High School, including more than a dozen relatives of those killed in fatal police shootings in Columbus and Franklin County who spoke out against police shootings and misconduct. Chants and calls for justice for the 23-year-old Goodson, broke out throughout the two-hour event.

Casey Goodson shooting:Goodson family releases new evidence as murder trial of Jason Meade continued

Tamala Payne, the mother of Casey Goodson Jr., who was fatally shot Dec. 4, 2020, by then-Franklin County Sheriff's office SWAT deputy Jason Meade, said that she believed the introduction of body cameras this summer is too little, too late.

County sheriff's deputies had no body cameras when Goodson was shot six times by Meade, who is facing murder and reckless homicide charges.

"I don't want a body camera — I want change," Payne said. "I want reform, I want my little young Black men to be safe in these streets."

Prior coverage:What we know about the fatal shooting of Casey Goodson Jr. by a Franklin County deputy

Sharon Payne, Goodson's grandmother who witnessed the fatal shooting at her home, shared with county officials the ongoing trauma that the family is experiencing, and said that a body camera will not bring her grandson back.

"I think it's good that you're putting cameras in place and may help save some lives, but unfortunately it's too late for Casey," Payne said. "I saw him, and I'll never forget it, and I just think it's a shame that everybody's sitting on their high horse. Nobody's doing nothing."

County Commissioner Erica Crawley acknowledged the Goodson family's words about the grief they are experiencing and said that the county commissioners are committed to making changes where they can.

"We want to make sure that we are continuing to move forward and make progress," Crawley said. "I know it will not change the situation of your son, but we know that we do need (body cameras)."

Sheriff Dallas Baldwin said that the body cameras were a place to start in working to rebuild trust with law enforcement.

"I think any law enforcement agency has a tremendous amount of work to do. We always have had a lot of work to do; we have even more to do now to restore faith," Baldwin said. "Is the body camera program a fix everything? No, of course not. No one item is — it is a place to start."

Adrienne Hood, the mother of Henry Green, who was killed by Columbus police officers during an exchange of gunfire in 2016, said that she believed the county's move to adopt body cameras was reactionary, calling it "unacceptable and so unnecessary, and so behind the curve."

"We have elected officials that are sitting up here, and I need my young people to remember that they are elected officials," Hood said. "That means that we vote for them. We vote them in and we can vote them out."

Lawyer calls for more action in Sheriff's Office

The lack of body cameras on Franklin County deputies became a major issue after the fatal shooting of Goodson.

Michael Young, a pastor at City of Grace church, said that he was celebrating the implementation of body cameras. He also encouraged county officials to work to expedite proceedings against Meade, whose scheduled trial in early December is expected to be continued again into early 2023.

"So, maybe a little bit different than other people, who I'm even here with, I am celebrating the implementation of this," Young said of body cameras.

"I celebrate what's taking place in the present, but I encourage you to not forget what took place in the past."

Meade, who is white, had been assigned to work with a U.S. Marshals task force that day. After an unsuccessful effort to find a wanted subject, Meade contends that Goodson, a Black man who had a concealed carry permit, flashed a gun as he drove by Meade toward his grandmother's house on Estates Place in the Northland neighborhood where he resided.

Meade then got in his vehicle and followed the 23-year-old Goodson a short distance to Goodson's grandmother's house to confront him about improper handling of a firearm. Meade has said through his attorney, Mark Collins, that he told Goodson to put his hands up multiple times and that Goodson turned toward him pointing his gun when Meade fatally shot him in the back multiple times as Goodson was entering a kitchen door.

Meade took a disability retirement from the sheriff's office months before he was indicted in December 2021 on two counts of murder and one count of reckless homicide.

Prior coverage: Judge rules Jason Meade must face state murder charges in death of Casey Goodson Jr.

At Monday's meeting, Sean Walton, who is representing Goodson's family, suggested that in addition to body cameras, all Franklin County Sheriff's deputies should undergo ongoing mental health counseling.

"Why? Because they're out there hunting and treating it like they're in a war zone. Jason Meade went to war," Walton said.

Walton also called for the county to cooperate in an ongoing civil lawsuit the family has filed against the county that seeks to assess the practices of the sheriff's office.

Walton said last week at a news conference that multiple pieces of evidence were left behind at the crime scene by Columbus police, who initially investigated the fatal shooting. Among those items, he said, was a pair of Apple AirPods with blood on them that belonged to Goodson.

Walton and the Goodson family say the AirPods, which are in the possession of the FBI, show that Goodson was wearing the AirPods as he often did and did not hear Meade approaching him or any commands.

In February, county commissioners unanimously approved a $2.5 million contract with WatchGuard Video Inc. for cameras and video storage for each of the county's 565 sheriff's deputies — more than 14 months after Goodson's death.

Details on Franklin County body cameras

The Motorola WatchGuard body cameras will be assigned as part of a deputy’s equipment, like a gun or radio. Even if a camera isn’t activated, the body cameras record sound and video around five minutes before a camera was activated. A second playback period lasts a whole day.

The footage will be uploaded each time a deputy returns to substations following a shift and places the camera back into a mount. The video will be stored and encrypted on a cloud service provided by Motorola, and administered by Franklin County. Baldwin emphasized at the Monday meeting that original copies of every video will be preserved and that deputies will not have access to footage.

Baldwin said the first trial of the body cameras will begin by the fall, with full implementation expected by the end of 2023. County officials said at a previous meeting that the pilot was supposed to launch in the summer, but Baldwin said Monday that the county was still establishing the infrastructure to handle the data.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Casey Goodson family slam Franklin County over body camera rollout