Body Camera Footage Released In 2015 Oakland Officer-Involved Shooting
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- A new bill that will make body camera video from police shootings more readily available is sitting on Governor Jerry Brown's desk as the public gets its first look at a three year old police shooting in Oakland.
Oakland Police have released body camera video from the officer who shot and killed 30-year-old Demouria Hogg as he sat in his car on June 6th, 2015.
The incident that occurred more than three years ago.
According to reports, officers tried to wake Hogg for more than an hour before they approached the driver's side window and broke it.
"When he woke up, he reached for weapon and posed a threat to officers. Officers felt their lives or lives of others in danger, so they took appropriate action," said KPIX 5 Law Enforcement Analyst and former Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan.
The officer reported shooting Hogg twice in the chest, although an autopsy revealed he was only hit once.
The body camera video was released after a public records request.
The bill on the governor's desk aimed at making body camera video more accessible requires police departments to make footage from officer-involved shooting incidents public.
The body camera measure would require department to release footage of most officer-involved shootings within 45 days of the incident, unless that release would conflict with any investigations.
Jordan told KPIX 5 that California is leading the charge in transparency.
"A lot of departments are realizing if they don't release their video that they have, someone else is going to tell their story," explained Jordan.
Jordan said the hope is that quicker video release time would improve relations between law enforcement and the community.
"It's the trend. If you are doing your job as an officer, it doesn't matter if you are recording or if someone else is recording for you," said Jordan.
The Oakland Police Department did not admit any fault in this case, even though there was a civil settlement to Hogg's family for $1.2 million.
The bill has drawn some opposition from various police officer's associations in the past. Governor Brown has not yet taken a stance on it.
