At the second of its two summer meetings last week, Cleveland City Council approved legislation that will compel the city to release footage of police use of deadly force incidents within seven days.
The ordinance, sponsored by Collinwood Councilman Mike Polensek, is virtually identical to a law in the City of Akron that led to the release of body cam footage in the police shooting of 25-year-old Jayland Walker earlier this summer.
Police body cam footage in that incident showed a vehicle pursuit on Akron's Route 8 and the subsequent shooting, in which eight Akron officers unloaded their magazines into a fleeing and unarmed Walker in an Akron parking lot, striking him 46 times,
The Cleveland legislation was introduced roughly one year ago.
"I’ve been advocating for this a long time," said Councilman Polensek in a statement last week. "I pushed for body cams years ago. They are an insurance policy for the men and women who serve our city. They are an insurance policy for our residents as well. The camera doesn’t lie."
Under the language of the ordinance, the Chief of Police must release footage from at least three city recording devices, like police body cams or dash cams in police vehicles, for any incident in which a police officer uses deadly force or causes serious physical harm to a person. If fewer than three recording devices capture the incident, the city must release all available footage.
The videos must begin 60 seconds before the incident or at the beginning of...
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