Sacramento PD misses deadline to release officer-involved shooting video
After the first officer-involved shooting since the Sacramento City Council passed an ordinance requiring the police department to release video of all police shootings, Sacramento police failed to meet the 30-day deadline.
Wednesday marked the 40th day since Sacramento police shot 28-year-old Armani Lee on Land Avenue near Del Paso Boulevard.
On Feb. 10, undercover officers watched Lee, a wanted man, leave a home on Land Avenue. When officers approached him, Lee fired at a K9 officer inside a police cruiser.
Four officers then returned fire, wounding Lee.
According to a city policy passed in November, Sacramento police are required to “release all video associated with an officer-involved shooting, in-custody death, or complaint reported to OPSA (Office of Public Safety Accountability) within 30 days, where said video does not hamper, impede, or taint an ongoing investigation or endanger involved parties.”
Interim Police Chief Brian Louie asked the council for a deadline extension at a council meeting Tuesday -- 39 days after the incident. He said there were 23 different camera angles to look through.
“We just haven’t had the opportunity to review all of that video in detail,” Louie said Tuesday.
The council members unanimously denied his request.
“Our expectation was that the police department would follow the policy that we enacted several months ago,” Councilmember Allen Warren said Wednesday.
So why haven’t police release the video yet?
A police spokesperson said the department doesn’t have enough staff or proper technology to quickly blur faces in videos. The new policy requires the department to blur faces before releasing the videos to “protect the identity of those present.”
In a statement, Officer Linda Matthew wrote, “We are currently in the process of reviewing all of the video material and preparing it for release.”
Louie told the council the department began to make redactions from the videos one by one and would release them individually as soon as they become available. The first video is expected to be ready next week.
Sacramento Black Lives Matter founder Tanya Faison pushed for the new video release policy last year and worries the city isn't holding the department accountable.
“Here's a rule, but if you break it, hey,” Faison said while shrugging her shoulders. “That's a problem because there's no reason to have rules if you're not going to enforce them.”
City leaders argue they've made their point and don't expect the police department to miss another video deadline.
“It would be very surprising to me if we ever found ourselves in this situation again,” Councilmember Jay Schenirer said.