Clearwater Council To Consider Body Cams; Protest Planned Friday

CLEARWATER, FL — As Clearwater prepares for another demonstration following the death of a Minneapolis black man in police custody, city council members agreed Thursday that it's time to consider outfitting the police department with body cameras and forming a civilian oversight committee to evaluate the actions of police.

Bless Up, a group of young adults that organizes community-based projects, is hosting a peaceful sitting demonstration in Coachman Park, 301 Drew St., Friday at 2:30 p.m. The group also held a demonstration in front of the Clearwater Police Station Sunday and a march Tuesday from the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center to Coachman Park.

Although Bless Up stated on its Facebook event page that "police haven’t been treating protesters very kindly," City Council member Mark Bunker said he attended Tuesday's march and was impressed with the way the police conducted themselves.

He noted that the department even provided a van for those who couldn't make the entire march to Coachman Park. Bunker, who is still recovering from the coronavirus, said he was among those who took advantage of the offer of transportation.

"I have the upmost respect for you and the officers but I do, however, believe this is the time when we need to work toward change," Bunker told Clearwater Police Chief Daniel Slaughter.

However, he said he believes body cameras for police officers would provide a level of comfort for both officers and the public.

"I understand the cost of body cameras is not a lot but storing all the footage is," he said.

He said he also favors citizen oversight of the police department.

"An advisory board sounds like a good idea," Bunker said. "I would hope that the police would accept the idea of that."

Several speakers at Thursday's council meeting also urged the city to consider providing the police with body cams and forming a civilian oversight committee.

"We can’t have violations of civil rights by police officers shoved under the rug any longer," said Daniel Holuba. "We need an oversight committee and there’s no excuse for these police not be wearing body cams."

He told council members that if the Clearwater Police can't establish trust with the community, then the department should be abolished and its duties assigned to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Slaughter reiterated earlier statements condemning the actions of the police who arrested George Floyd in Minneapolis.

"Our officers know they would be accountable if they did the same behavior in Clearwater," he said.

He noted that his department has a policy against the use of neck restraints and trains officers to position prisoners to prevent asphyxia.

He said all use of force incidents are documented and investigated and the department conducts regular training on the use of force and de-escalation techniques.

Additionally, he said his department has "an early intervention program that alerts management when an officer reaches a threshold for use of force incidents, even if they're in compliance."

"I'm certainly willing to have the conversation (about using body cams)," Slaughter said. "It’s a good idea in concept, especially in a community that's having trust issues, and I think body cameras are valuable technology. The costs have to be weighed with the benefits. I think they definitely have a place in law enforcement and I think they're going to be prevalent in law enforcement going forward."

Nevertheless, he said the Minneapolis Police have had civilian oversight since 1990 and body cameras for a number of years, "and we're still seeing the same behavior that clearly infuriates our citizens. I just don't want people to think that's going to stop the problem that they're concerned about. They're concerned about police misconduct and it's not going to make that go away," Slaughter said.

Instead, he said those problems will be resolved with "good leadership at the top; we're going to have to pick our employees wisely; have good rules and good policies and train them appropriately; and we're going to have to hold them accountable, and I believe we do that," Slaughter said.

Mayor Frank Hibbard asked that the discussion of a police body camera pilot program and formation of an oversight committee be placed on the city council's agenda in two weeks.

"I think this is going to be a long-term conversation," he said.