Public Meeting Notice  Law Enforcement Body Camera Task Force Meeting

LAW ENFORCEMENT BODY CAMERA TASK FORCE MEETING

Date: November 9, 2021

Time: 9:30AM-11:00AM

Members Present:

Asst. U/S Angela F.F. Davis (Chair)

Cpt. Steven McCarthy, State Police (Vice-Chair)

Alyssa Hackett, Esq., Committee for Public Counsel Services

Chief Thomas W. Fowler, Salisbury Chief of Police

Emiliano Falcon-Morano, Esq., ACLU

Fred Taylor, NAACP

Grace Lee, Esq., People’s United Bank

Hillary Farber, Esq., University of MA School of Law

Israuel Marrero, Boston Police

Kaleigh Marshall, Chelmsford Police Department

Rose King, Esq., Committee for Public Counsel Services

Sheriff Patrick McDermott, Norfolk County Sheriff

Steven J. Brooks, Esq., Brooks & Crawley, LLP

Tim Mitchell, EOTSS

Chief Steve Sargent, Worcester Chief of Police

Sgt. Timothy King, MA Coalition of Police

Members Absent:

DA Michael O’Keefe, Cape & Islands District Attorney

Carmelo Ayuso, MA Minority State Police Officers Association

Steven Carley, Assistant Attorney General

Sheriff McDermott, President of the Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association

October 26, 2021 Meeting Minutes Vote

Vice-Chair McCarthy made a motion to accept the minutes. Attorney Steven Brooks seconded the motion. The motion carried and the minutes were approved unanimously.

Subcommittee Updates

Board Advisor Dan Nakamoto (EOPSS) reported that the Privacy and Record-Keeping subcommittee met last week. They are pulling together research, policies and recommendations from national groups. The next meeting is scheduled for November 16^th. The Technology and Procurement subcommittee’s first meeting is scheduled for next week.

Vice-Chair McCarthy reported that the Training, Supervision, and Disciplinary Review subcommittee is currently re-scheduling their initial meeting. They are beginning to fill their SharePoint folder with a number of laws and best practices on training, disciplinary review, and sanction.

Topics Not Reasonably Anticipated

Chairwoman Davis stated that she has been receiving public comment through the portal on the Task Force website and they are available for members to review in SharePoint.

Chairwoman Davis also mentioned the outreach to the public. She stated that every Massachusetts Chief of Police was sent a communication about the listening sessions. Attorney Hillary Farber also shared it with the Suffolk Lawyers for Justice and the National Lawyers Guild.

Public Input Listening Session

Stephen Roche, a third associate city solicitor in the Springfield MA Law Department

Attorney Roche stated that 500 officers in Springfield, MA are currently wearing cameras. He further stated that the process began in 2019. The full system was launched last fall in 2020. He noted that Springfield’s Chief of Police had concerns around Section 104E of the Task Force’s enabling legislation and he will be following up with more detail in written comment. He noted that House Bill H1874 would strike the prohibition that would prevent an officer from accessing or viewing any recording of an incident involving the officer before the officer is to make a statement about the incident. Attorney Roche noted that the Supreme Judicial Court recently issued an opinion dealing with body cameras that he will forward to the Task Force. With respect to the value of officers viewing body camera footage prior to making a statement, Attorney Roche stated an officer’s report may focus on one aspect that was the officer’s primary focus but the video will capture that there were others things of importance and worth mentioning in a report.

Chief Tom Fowler stated that he uploaded a copy of the referenced case (Comm. v. Yusuf) in the shared drive under “pertinent cases”.

Chief Matthew Sonnabend, Chief of Police, Barnstable

Chief Sonnabend stated that officers should review and retain body camera footage whenever a member of the public was involved and if an officer does not view it, he is not doing his due diligence.

Sgt. Tim King asked if we can adjourn meetings before public comment begins. Attorney Suleyken Walker (EOPSS) noted that she will look into this and report back.

Fred Taylor made a motion to adjourn at 11:00AM. Vice-Chair McCarthy seconded the motion. The motion carried and all voted in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 11:00AM.

1. Call to order and attendance
2. Vote to approve minutes
3. Subcommittee updates
4. Topics not reasonably anticipated/other
5. Public comment and listening session
6. Adjournment