Other WA police agencies require cameras to stay on — Pierce County’s policy only says deputies ‘should’

Some police departments require body cameras to stay on. Pierce County’s policy says deputies only “should.”

While many major law enforcement agencies, including the Seattle Police Department (SPD), require officers to keep their body cameras rolling once it’s activated, a policy designed to protect both suspects and officers, Pierce County’s current rules are far less strict.

Right now, Sheriff Keith Swank said in a Thursday press conference, Pierce County policy advised deputies “should” turn on their body-worn cameras, not “shall,” which he said he would prefer. Sheriff Keith Swank said that a single word makes all the difference.

Pierce County body camera policy inconsistencies 

That policy gap is now under scrutiny after Pierce County Major Chad Dickerson was charged this week with two counts of vehicular assault in connection with a July crash that injured a family of six, including three children and a pregnant woman.

According to court documents, some deputies who responded to the crash either failed to activate their cameras or turned them off while still at the scene.

Sheriff Swank told reporters Thursday that all deputies who responded that day should have had their cameras on, but admitted his department’s current policy doesn’t require it.

“I believe that everybody at that scene that day should have had their camera on,” Swank said. “And I don’t know if there’s anything I can do about it, but if there is, I will.”

KIRO Newsradio looked at the policies for other major law enforcement agencies around the state, and most of them require, per policy, their officers and deputies to activate their body cameras when investigating a potential crime, including a D.U.I. investigation, and that they do not deactivate their camera until after their investigation at the scene is complete.

“Anytime we’re taking enforcement action or dealing with a crime or investigating a crime, they’ll be on,” Seattle Police Lt. Kirk Waldorf said. “Once we leave the scene and we have no substantial investigative issues, then we can turn them off as we leave.”

At least one department responded that their officers are allowed to mute or deactivate audio and video from being recorded by body cameras, but only when it is a matter of protecting the privacy of a victim or witness, when an individual wishes to provide information anonymously, to avoid recording a confidential informant or undercover officer, when discussing case tactics or strategy, during private conversations with other members or emergency responders.

Possible revisions to the Pierce County body camera policy

At the press conference, Swank said he’s been pushing to change his office’s policy language from “should” to “shall” to remove any ambiguity, but until that happens, deputies are technically not required to keep their cameras rolling.

“I’ve been working with the Union on this policy,” Swank explained. “But we have to negotiate these things; you have to go through a legal process in order to change the policy. I can’t just go in and change the policy.”

Swank also announced an internal investigation into the conduct of deputies at the scene, stating he only learned the details after receiving the charging documents this week.

“As soon as I received this document and reviewed it, and the undersheriff reviewed it, we opened an investigation into all the conduct of the deputies involved that day,” Swank said.

The Washington State Patrol handled the criminal investigation into the crash. Swank said he stayed away from that case entirely to avoid any perception of impropriety.

He did not say how long the internal investigation will take.

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