At the six month mark, an in house study found that both complaints and use of force had fallen, unfortunately their findings didn’t stick.
According to the findings, there were 6,421 instances of force from July 2014 until June 2015 while cameras were in use, and 5,820 the year before they were issued.
On a good note, while there was a 17% increase in “lesser controlling force,” which is non weaponized force such as an officer using his body weight to control a suspect, “greater” controlling or defending force such as tasers and chokeholds dropped 8%.
“This first year of data all seems to suggest that (body cameras) aren’t the end-all solution to all social issues,” San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman told the SD Union-Tribune. “We are going to need to enhance other current strategies that are effective, such as our psychiatric emergency response teams … our homeless outreach team … and our crisis-response team officers.”
The ACLU has however, praised the department’s efforts in tracking and analyzing the year’s data. They also agree that the drop in greater force is a good sign of progress.
