Body camera expert trains Jacksonville prosecutors on how to interpret footage

A body camera expert told local prosecutors on Monday that what they see on video might not tell the whole story.

The 4^th Circuit State Attorney's Office invited University of South Carolina law professor and former police officer Seth Stoughton to train its prosecutors.

The presentation comes days after the first wave of Jacksonville Sheriff’s Officers began wearing body cameras.

Stoughton’s presentation focused on the challenges of interpreting body camera footage.

Most officers wear their body cameras at chest level, which Stoughton said makes it difficult to judge how much taller a suspect was than an officer, and therefore, how threatened an officer may have felt in real life.

Stoughton also showed several examples of body camera footage in which use of force, like gunfire or kicking, happened outside of the camera’s view.

Days after #JSO began wearing body cameras, an expert was in town to train State Attorney's Office prosecutors on the challenges of interpreting the footage. I was invited to sit in on that presentation. That story is coming up at 6 on @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/pEAwrsD3xp
— Jenna Bourne (@jennabourneWTSP) November 5, 2018

“Prosecutors are going to be watching these videos. They’re going to be making charging decisions, in part, on the evidence provided by body-worn camera videos. They need to have an intimate familiarity with the strengths and with the weaknesses of the videos that they’re using,” said Stoughton.

JSO expects to issue 200 body cameras within the next few months.

The agency’s policy says all full-time police officers and sergeants will have them.

Cox Media Group