Officer had body camera turned off at scene of Taser incident, a violation of department policy
http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/officer-had-body-camera-turned-off-at-scdene-of-fatal/article_5a987e88-4933-5d3f-8ff1-6617b94723c3.html
Only one of the four officers who dealt with Zachary Bearheels during his fatal encounter with police was wearing a body camera. And the officer’s camera was turned off — a violation of Omaha Police Department policy.
Scotty Payne, who used a Taser on the handcuffed Bearheels, was the sole officer with a body camera, said Capt. Kerry Neumann of the Omaha Police Department. It’s not clear why Payne’s camera was off.
“It’s a violation of our policy that he didn’t have the camera on,” said Neumann, who leads the team that investigates in-custody deaths. “At this point we don’t know what the reason behind it is.”
The Omaha World-Herald has learned that Payne and another officer at the scene, Ryan McClarty, have been recommended for termination.
Police went to the Bucky’s convenience store at 60th and Center Streets on June 5 to respond to a disturbance about a person refusing to leave.
Bearheels, 29, was asked for his identification and why he was at Bucky’s, but his speech was garbled and he displayed signs of impairment, Schmaderer said last week.
Officers put Bearheels in handcuffs, Schmaderer said. Payne used a Taser on him after he struggled with them and refused to get into the back of a police cruiser. Payne shocked Bearheels with the Taser 12 times, and McClarty repeatedly struck Bearheels with his fists, Schmaderer said.
Bearheels was not breathing and had no pulse when he was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center, where he died.
In addition to the four officers already on scene, two officers arrived toward the end in the encounter. Those officers, Michael Hempel and Ashley Morris, were wearing body cameras, and those cameras were on, Neumann said.
“They had very minimal involvement in this,” he said.
Neumann declined to say what the video from those body cameras showed. Much of the encounter was caught on cruiser cameras, and that video and audio will be released either after a grand jury decision or during a potential criminal court case.
The Omaha Police Department began using 115 body cameras last spring and will distribute more to officers next year. The goal is to eventually equip all uniformed patrol officers and all gang unit officers with cameras.
Department policy requires officers activate body cameras when they arrive on scene. If they do not do so, they must document why.