Kansas City police announce all patrol officers now equipped with body cameras

Kansas City police has equipped all of its patrol officers with body cameras, a move they say will enhance public confidence and officer safety, the department announced Thursday.

Approximately 900 patrol, traffic and tactical officers will wear the cameras, which will cost about $4 million each year. Associated costs include equipment, maintenance and storage. The initial cost is about $2.5 million.

For years, community leaders have been calling for a body camera program as a way to hold the city’s police officers accountable. Kansas City police began equipping hundreds of its officers with body cameras earlier this year.

“George Floyd’s death sparked an outcry in our community and one of those changes that was asked for was body cameras,” Police Chief Rick Smith said Thursday. “We listened to those. I believe they will increase transparency and accountability.”

“This is what the community wanted. This is what police officers wanted.”

Smith said the police department solicited the input from other state and federal law enforcement, elected officials, area prosecutors and citizens to shape the body camera policies and governance concerns.

Carlos Salazar, a community leader and lifelong Kansas City resident was part of the working group, said the development policies on how the body cameras are used was paramount.

“We overemphasize it, but we knew that was going to be the key to ensure success of this committee,” Salazar said. “And ensuring that the (police) department has the tools necessary to do the job.”

Initially, the police department equipped 340 patrol officers with body cameras. That number included patrol officers in the Central, Shoal Creek and North patrol divisions.

The police department is seeking to secure a federal grant that would allow them to provide body cameras for investigators and other non-uniformed officers.

Last month, the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners approved new policies for body cameras.

Under the “Internally Recorded Digital Media Records Policy,” officers are required to activate their body cameras during every contact with the public. The body cameras are compatible with the in-car camera system.

Video that is collected but is not essential to ongoing investigations will be retained for 180 days, according to the policy.

Missouri law requires that video evidence in pending criminal cases are closed and must be kept until the criminal case is concluded, said Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd.

“These cameras are going to be a powerful tool for justice and accountability in Kansas City,” Zahnd said. “They’re going to help police and prosecutors convict the guilty, protect the innocent and safeguard the rights of all people including suspects of crime.”

The body cameras will complement dashboard cameras in patrol cars. Officers are required to activate their body cameras during traffic stops or when other law enforcement contact is made with the public.

A citizen can request that they not be recorded if officers are entering a private residence. In those situations, officers must disclose they are wearing a body camera, which can remain activated.

In many cases, officers will need to activate their body cameras, said Maj. Paul Luster with fiscal division.

Kansas City police worked with community members, and local and federal prosecutors to help develop its program and policies on how video footage would be stored and used in investigations and when cameras are activated.

After days of protests last year following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Police Chief Rick Smith announced the DeBruce Foundation had donated $1 million and raised another $1.5 million from community partners to pay for the department’s body cameras.

In addition, Kansas City police said the department has implemented a series of reforms and new policies over the past year.

Those directives include a new policy that explicitly prohibits officers from using less-lethal weapons “to disperse crowds in the event of an unlawful assembly.”

Outside law enforcement agencies currently investigate police shootings. The police department has formalized a policy that requires an officer to intervene if they see another officer using excessive force.

Before 2020, Kansas City police had trained its officers to use de-escalation techniques and had banned officers shooting into moving vehicles.

“It’s been a tough year for everyone,” Smith said. “The pandemic, the cries for reforms and the protests, the demonstrations, other things that happened across the country. I think it has been a tough year on law enforcement.”

“We have a great program (body cameras) that’s now implemented in the field that should make everyone like I say, a win-win. I’m looking forward to the future.”