No video in several of officer’s arrests | Albuquerque Journal News
By Nicole Perez / Journal Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at 12:05 amAlbuquerque police officer Jeremy Dear’s lapel video wasn’t recording when he allegedly punched a man while trying to arrest him during a Downtown brawl in January 2013.
His lapel video wasn’t recording when he allegedly kicked a man in the genitals during a traffic stop a month later.
And police were unable to recover any video from his lapel camera after he shot and killed 19-year-old Mary Hawkes, who he said pulled a gun on him after a suspected car theft, last month. The camera’s manufacturer is examining the camera, police have said.
There were at least two other instances, which didn’t involve use of force, when he didn’t record his full encounters with the public, according to Dear’s personnel file obtained by KOAT-TV.
Under department policy, officers are supposed to record every interaction they have with members of the public.
It’s unclear if Dear was ever disciplined for any of the previous incidents in which he did not get video of his encounters. …
The DOJ report said requiring lapel camera use is a good policy but that it’s inconsistently used and not enforced strictly by APD.
“We found very few examples of officers being reprimanded for failing to record force incidents,” the report reads. “The fact that few officers were reprimanded for this failure suggests that supervisors have also failed to insist on this form of accountability.”
No video in several of officer’s arrests | Albuquerque Journal News