Unlike shootings involving police around the country there was no body camera footage of this encounter. Photo / AP
Unlike shootings involving police around the country there was no body camera footage of this encounter. Photo / AP
Two police officers raised their weapons while sheltering behind a tree in a Portland park.
They yelled at a homeless man to put up his hands. Moments later, two shots rang out.
The man collapsed onto the grassy field.
A replica gun with an orange tip was found at the scene on April 16. But some key details are unclear, including whether the fake weapon was in Robert Delgado's possession during the deadly encounter, or if he pointed it at officers.
Police have been tight-lipped, citing an ongoing investigation, and the only video from the scene — 11 minutes of footage taken by bystanders, not officers — shows just a portion of what happened.
Portland, which has become an epicentre of racial justice protests, is one of the few major US cities where police do not have to wear body cameras. Elsewhere such footage is increasingly being released to provide an unaltered view of deadly force.
For years, city leaders and Portland police have advocated to use the devices, stating they promote accountability and transparency.
But officials say the department lacks the funds after the mayor and city council's decision last year to cut millions from its budget amid local and national calls to reform policing by "defunding" law enforcement and shifting money to other efforts.
"It's gotten to the point now, if you don't have a body cam policy, people wonder why," said Geoffrey Alpert, a criminal justice professor at the University of South Carolina.
"And while it's really expensive, I think it's important to get these things down on video as much as possible because otherwise we're relying on written reports and they can be inconsistent and not be remembered as well."
Delgado's family is relying on bystander video, police radio transmissions, photos and witness testimony to try to piece together the details.
Officer Zachary DeLong killed Delgado, 46, after responding to Lents Park on reports of a man "quick drawing" and holding what looked like a handgun. He shot Delgado from a distance of about 27 metres.
"The investigation is still under way, and we are waiting for information," said Ashlee Albies, the attorney for Delgado's family. "What we have seen from the videos and from witness statements is deeply disturbing and alarming."
Since 2010, Portland police have shot and killed 27 people, according to data from the department. Three of those cases remain under investigation, and a grand jury found all but one other were justified.
Statewide, body camera recordings exist for just seven of the past 100 deadly shootings by police, according to a Washington Post analysis.
In recent years, body camera footage has played a pivotal role in examining the use of force in police-involved fatalities across the US.
During the trial of Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of the murder and manslaughter of George Floyd, prosecutors showed footage from cameras worn by the former Minneapolis police officer and three colleagues. In the video, a handcuffed Floyd said he couldn't breathe as Chauvin kept his knee on the 46-year-old black man's neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds.
A New York Police Department's counterterrorism officer stands outside St. Patrick's Cathedral wearing a body camera. Photo / AP
In just the past month, police departments have released body camera footage of other deadly encounters: the shooting by a Columbus, Ohio, police officer of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant, as she swung a knife towards another girl; Adam Toledo, 13, appearing to drop a handgun and begin raising his hands less than a second before he was shot by a Chicago officer; and an hour long video from Alameda, California, police that shows Mario Gonzalez, 26, dying after officers pinned him to the ground face down for more than five minutes.
Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell says body cameras are a "good tool" and can bring clarity.
"There's a lot of agencies that have them, and they help them in situations like this and also just call-taking, even crowd control, public order-type events," Lovell said.
Body cameras are becoming a police standard nationwide, and have been acquired by more than 80 per cent of departments with more than 500 officers, according to 2016 US Justice Department statistics.
The New York Police Department has distributed body cameras to more than 24,000 officers, or about two-thirds of its force. Since October, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has distributed cameras to about a fifth of its deputies.
Some departments implemented body camera policies after high-profile killings of black people by white officers, including in places like Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety, the state's largest police agency, does not require its officers to wear cameras and has a relatively small number of cameras. New Orleans police use body cameras, but some nearby suburban departments don't.
In Anchorage, Alaska, voters passed a $2.4 million proposition last month that includes funds for police body cameras.
Portland police also hope the devices will soon become a reality in the country's 26th most populous city.
During recent bargaining talks, the Portland Police Association made a proposal that "included the issue of" body cameras, according to city officials. Specifics were not yet available.
In 2019, the Portland Police Bureau revived plans to pursue a body camera pilot programme that was supposed to be implemented in 2020 and 2021. The bureau estimated it would cost roughly $4 million to get a programme going, with ongoing costs of about $2.4 million a year.
But last year, as protesters took to the streets nightly to demand racial justice and reform, the council and mayor voted to cut $20m from the police budget, effectively halting the programme.
"We often hear that body cameras will provide police accountability, but I disagree. I believe they are an expensive, false solution," Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, the first black woman to serve on Portland's City Council, said in June.
Hardesty said if officers get body cameras, the money should come from the existing police budget. In addition, she wants to make sure a new police oversight board has access to all footage and that officers record all law enforcement interactions.
"It has taken filming the police as journalists [and] civilians to reveal the everyday life of interacting with the police while being black," Hardesty said. "Even that hasn't led to substantial change in policy or behaviour. That's why it's important to keep our eye on reinvesting in community."
