Recommended Best Practices
Recommendation 8.4: Release information about critical events in a timely manner.
In the wake of officer-involved shootings or other critical incidents, a lack of transparency compounds trauma and heightens distrust. Withholding information obscures facts and breeds anger and resentment. As such, department leaders should work with community members, elected officials, local prosecutors, officer organizations, crime victims’ representatives, and others to develop policies around the release of information about critical incidents.
After an officer-involved shooting, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) worked with community partners, representatives of police unions, and a local prosecutor to establish a protocol for the release of information.[i]Under the arrangement, the LVMPD releases information within 48 hours of an officer-involved shooting. This information includes the involved officer’s name, rank, tenure, and age. Within 72 hours, after department leaders have been briefed, the LVMPD arranges and holds a press conference to release key facts about the incident to the news media and the public.[ii]During the conference, leaders explain what transpired and provide detailed information, such as aerial maps, surveillance video, evidentiary pictures, identification of officers and individuals involved, and information about weapons used.[iii]
When possible, leaders should also release existing BWC and dashboard camera (a.k.a.“dashcam”) footage. In July 2018, the Chicago Police Department released BWC footage the day after a fatal shooting, in part to calm community tensions.[iv]This marked a dramatic departure from 2014, when the department waited more than a year to release dashcam footage of the shooting of Laquan McDonald, which deepened distrust and sparked protests about his killing and the city’s delay in releasing it.[v]
Increasingly, departments are establishing clear guidelines for the release of critical incident information. In April 2018, the Los Angeles Police Commission shared its criteria for publicly disclosing and releasing information about police activity and providing department leaders with clear guidance on how to improve transparency and accountability during criminal investigations.[vi]
The Los Angeles Police Department’s Video Release Policy for Critical Incidents
Source:Office of the Chief of Police, L.A. Police Dep’t, Administrative Order No. 6: Critical Incident Video Release Policy – Established (Apr. 13, 2018), http://assets.lapdonline.org/assets/pdf/Administrative%20Order%20No.%206.pdf.
[i]Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dep’t, Use of Force Policy: INVESTIGATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES – Use of Deadly Force or Force Involving Serious Bodily Injury/Death 33 (2017), https://www.lvmpd.com/en-us/InternalOversightConstitutionalPolicing/Documents/Use-of-Force-Policy-2017.pdf;see alsoOffice of the Inspector General, L.A. Police Comm’n, Comparative Review of Selected Agency Policies, Investigations, and Training on the Use of Force 11 (Oct. 6, 2016), http://www.lapdpolicecom.lacity.org/101116/BPC_16-0119A.pdf(“The [Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department] stands out among the selected agencies because, as soon as it is feasible, this agency posts a video statement about every incident on YouTube. Approximately 48 hours after an OIS incident, the LVMPD releases the name, rank, tenure, and age of the involved officer. Then, following an internal briefing approximately 72 hours later, the Undersheriff conducts a comprehensive media briefing.”).
[ii]Office of the Inspector General, L.A. Police Comm’n, Comparative Review of Selected Agency Policies, Investigations, and Training on the Use of Force 11 (Oct. 6, 2016), http://www.lapdpolicecom.lacity.org/101116/BPC_16-0119A.pdf.
[iii]LVMPD Controls Narrative After Officer Involved Shootings, Law Enforcement Today, Aug, 3, 2017, https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/lvmpd-controls-narrative-officer-shootings/.
[iv]William Lee, Jeremy Gorner, & Morgan Greene, Chicago Police Release Body Camera Footage of Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting that Prompted Protests, Chicago Trib., July 16, 2018, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-man-shot-and-killed-by-police-identified-additional-protests-planned-20180715-story.html.
[v]Nausheen Husain, Laquan McDonald Timeline: The Shooting, the Video and the Verdict, Chicago Trib., Oct. 5, 2018, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/laquanmcdonald/ct-graphics-laquan-mcdonald-officers-fired-timeline-htmlstory.html#.
[vi]SeeOffice of the Chief of Police, L.A. Police Dep’t, Administrative Order No. 6: Critical Incident Video Release Policy – Established (Apr. 13, 2018), http://assets.lapdonline.org/assets/pdf/Administrative%20Order%20No.%206.pdf.