[Vision2020] Paranoia in Pullman

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (November 21, 2014) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

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Police: Records request overload staff
An anonymous request seeks all body camera footage from Pullman Police


Staff at the Pullman Police Department may soon be drowning in hours of video footage as they attempt to fulfill an anonymous request to post the footage on YouTube.
The public records request submitted early this week asked for the department to turn over all body and vehicle camera footage it has recorded. Pullman Police Cmdr. Chris Tennant said that means footage dating back a year-and-a-half will have to be edited and handed over to comply with the request.
At a Tuesday night Pullman City Council meeting, City Supervisor Mark Workman said there are 1.7 terabytes of video footage to wade through.
"It was not a typical request," Tennant said. "It was - 'I want all videos posted on YouTube for everybody to access.' "
Tennant said the department turned the request over to the city attorney to make sure it was a legal request and to determine costs and realistic timelines to complete the request.
"This anonymous requester has been communicating with the records and legal department to narrow down the request," Tennant said.
One of the major issues with the request is how to address privacy issues in the videos in a cost-effective and timely manner.
The cameras used by the department were created so footage cannot be edited, meaning the department will have to find a software program to blur out or block faces, license plates and other private objects.
"One of the problems is who will do that," he said. "I got two records clerks downstairs that work on public records requests."
The two clerks handle roughly five to 10 requests a week already and some of them are fairly complicated and take a significant amount of time, he said.
Footage connected with an active case or investigation doesn't have to be released, but that doesn't reduce the hours of video by much.
"It's not just the 'fun stuff" you see on TV," he said. "I've got to be honest, most of the stuff is pretty boring."
A typical clip of video related to a driving under the influence arrest will only have about 20 minutes on the streetand another three hours will be fingerprinting, processing and handling inventory, Tennant said.
There are a minimum of three officers out at any given time of the day, each working nine-hour shifts. On average, Tennant said officers will activate their camera five times a shift.
"We are generating it faster than a person can redact," he said.
Two other departments in Poulsbo and Bremerton, Wash., also received the request from an anonymous individual, according to an Associated Press story Tuesday.
Poulsbo Police Chief Al Townsend told the AP that the 1,100 hours of video requested from his department would take years to review with its limited staff .
"We don't want to put people's private lives out there," Townsend had said. "I can't in good conscience give out footage that shows people in their homes."
Bremerton police officials said they hope the Legislature will act to address the problem.
"I hope, personally, the state Legislature will look at public records request legislation," Tennant said. "I think we need to update the laws."
Tennant said the technology used for body and dash cameras was created to enhance transparency, which he said he believes is the goal of the anonymous requester.
"I think the general public really wants cameras out there and we as a police department really want cameras out there," Tennant said. "To have the whole idea derailed and go back to the stone age of written reports, that's not the purpose or the intent."
The AP reported the Bremerton Police Department plans to buy 42 cameras for officers, but Chief Steven Strachan is apprehensive about spending the money only to be struck by records requests.
Tennant said he hopes the request won't prompt the discontinuing use of the cameras in Pullman.
"That has been mentioned here in Pullman and I certainly hope it doesn't come to that," he said. "We don't have that defeatist attitude, but having to hire 10 people is unrealistic."
As of Thursday, Tennant said, an official plan to handle the request has still not been formulated.

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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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