APD considers change in camera policy

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Austin police chief Art Acevedo is considering a change in his department's in car camera policy after a police shooting on May 11th.

The policy review comes less than two months after Senior Police Officer Leonardo Quintana shot and killed Nathaniel Sanders,18, in the parking lot of the Walnut Creek apartments in East Austin.

Current policy requires officers to activate their cameras on traffic and pedestrian stops and during sobriety tests or pursuits. But Austin police chief Art Acevedo said the result of this policy review could require officers to turn on their cameras any time they approach or detain a suspect.

"When a critical incident occurs where emotions start running hot, the camera can do the talking for the officer," said Chief Acevedo.

In the early morning hours of May 11, Officer Quintana was responding to reports of shots fired several days earlier from a gold Mercedes. The officer did not activate his in car camera before approaching the vehicle Sanders was sleeping in. Officer Quintana claims he shot Sanders when the teenager reached for a gun.  Three officers were on the scene of the shooting, but only one camera was activated.

"I think the result of that incident- where we had one camera on- two not on- only reinforced our need to reevaluate this area of our policy and procedure," said Acevedo.

Chief Acevedo has been outspoken about his department's need to go digital, meaning their in car cameras would be rolling at all times.

"We're in a digital world and we're here using a VHS tape- that's a disservice to the police officers, its a disservice to the public and I think at the end of the day its a disservice to the taxpayers," said Chief Acevedo.

An upgrade to the entire fleet would cost close to $8 million, which is not feasible while the city is already asking the department for cutbacks.

The new policy could take effect by the end of the summer.

In the meantime, Chief Acevedo confirmed the department is working with a crime scene expert to reconstruct the Nathaniel Sanders shooting.

Tom Bevel also worked with the Austin Police Department in the reconstruction of the Daniel Rocha shooting in 2005.

Officer Julie Schroeder did not activate her dash camera and was later fired from the force as a result of that shooting. The city eventually paid Rocha's family $1 million. Bevel also worked with prosecutors on the Yogurt Shop murders case.

"When you're talking about a very complex shooting scene where there are policy issues, where there are legal issues, we want to make sure there are no surprises," said Chief Acevedo. "We don't want to leave any stone unturned because we want to make sure we have a complete picture of what happened."

Acevedo said he will fulfill his promise to complete the internal investigation into the Sanders shooting by mid-August.

"We are committed to that- our staff is committed to that- I'm really proud of our investigative teams- they're working diligently because we have an officer and his family who want to know what his fate is and we owe it to that officer to get it done as quickly as possible and we owe it to the Sanders family to get it done and we owe it to the community as a whole to get it done."

A grand jury will determine if there was any criminal wrongdoing on the part of Officer Quintana.

The Sanders family has filed a lawsuit against the city and the police department.