After a yearslong process to outfit police with body cameras, the Portland Police Bureau Monday voluntarily published footage captured during a police shooting for the first time.

Police officials said they hoped releasing the footage, which recorded Officer Nicholas Morales shooting a 52-year-old man in North Portland on Aug. 24, showed their efforts to give the public a more transparent look into frontline police work.

But Portland Police Chief Bob Day acknowledged that the cameras have limits. He cautioned that they are still “a work in progress” for the bureau, and that policy adjustments may still be made in the future.

During the Aug. 24 shooting, Morales used a patrol cruiser as cover and the vehicle mostly obscured the camera lens as he opened fire. At least three other officers captured the incident on their body cameras, though the man – identified as Robert Seeger – is too far away for the viewer to discern many details.

Reporters at the press conference asked Day for more details about what threat Seeger purportedly posed. Day said he couldn’t comment much as the shooting is still an open case and under investigation.

“I fully understand this raises a lot of questions. There’s a lot of gaps,” Day said.

Day and Bureau Spokesperson Mike Benner said the investigation will go to a grand jury, which will then determine if Morales’ was justified in opening fire. Grand jury proceedings are led by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.

Seeger’s wounds were not life-threatening, according to Portland police, and he was taken to a local hospital. Police allege Seeger had been acting erratically and was armed with a gun and a hammer when they dispatched to the scene.

Police used a 40-millimeter, less-lethal “sponge” round before Morales opened fire. Morales, who joined the bureau five years ago, is heard in the footage saying “he’s got the gun” before shooting.

Up to two dozen officers witnessed the shooting, according to Benner. He said at the press conference that he opted to only publish footage from Morales and three other officers who were physically closest to the incident.

The three witness officers in the video are not named. Benner said the bureau does not identify witness officers as a matter of policy. It was unclear Monday morning whether those witness officers are on paid administrative leave, like Morales.

“We’re really grateful to have body-worn cameras,” Day told OPB. “But it’s a work-in-progress and these don’t tell the whole story. They’re a perspective.”

It has taken years to get the devices equipped in Portland. The U.S. Department of Justice began pushing Portland Police to start a bodycam program in the wake of the city’s 2020 racial justice protests when demonstrators and officers repeatedly clashed in the city.

After local leaders bought into the plan, city officials and the Portland Police Association spent months hammering out the program’s policies. The policies govern everything from who wears the cameras and when the cameras start recording, to the circumstances in which police can review the footage.

Police first tested the cameras on a trial basis in August 2023. Training to use them began in June of this year. Officers at all three precincts officially started wearing them as of Aug. 2, according to police officials.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2024/09/09/portland-police-release-first-body-camera-footage-following-shooting/