There is currently an ongoing issue with Detectives assigned to “Operation All Out” and the Department fitting them with Body Worn Cameras with little or no training on operating the camera.
For the record, the DEA and the City reached a contractual agreement in which we received a contractual value toward our last round of raises. This enables the City to outfit Detectives with body worn cameras. The current training for the body worn cameras for all Police Officers has been a four-hour class. However, many of our members have not received this training.
That being said, the DEA strongly urges any Detective who has been fitted with the body worn camera and has not trained properly, to not tamper with the camera once it is given to you. Although you are contractually obligated to wear it, you are not expected to operate it without proper training given the litany of Constitutional and disciplinary ramifications from operating the BWC without proper training.
This message applies to Detectives temporarily assigned to Uniformed duty. The Detective Bureau Training Unit is currently working on a training program for the proper operation and use of the Body Worn Camera for “Plain Clothes” Detectives who have been permanently assigned a camera.
The DEA has since filed a grievance with the Office of Labor Relations and is demanding that the Department cease outfitting Detectives with BWCs without proper training.
