Officers in shootings to review tapes in most instances
Acevedo says he wants to improve accuracy of statements.

By Tony Plohetski
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Austin police officers involved in shootings can now view videos from their patrol car cameras before speaking with homicide investigators, a move that Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said he hopes will prevent such inquiries from stalling and improve the accuracy of officers' statements.

Police department leaders changed the practice ? despite objections from some detectives who review such incidents ? after two officers involved in a July 8 shooting of a man refused to provide a written or oral account of what happened until they viewed their videos. Police officials said the officers' decisions, which were allowed under Texas law but were not standard procedure in Austin, temporarily prevented the investigation from moving forward.

Assistant Police Chief David Carter said the move is part of broader review of how the department investigates police shootings. Carter said the review could lead to the creation of a special police shooting investigation team.

Tom Stribling, an attorney who represented officers David Nordstrom and Marlon Goodloe, said the officers declined at his advice to provide statements before reviewing their tape because "they wanted to give an accurate account of what occurred."

"When an officer is involved in a (shooting), their memory or perception of events may not be as accurate as it would be had they been allowed to review and remember things based upon that review of the video," Stribling said.

Acevedo said officers should review the tapes before providing statements in most instances, unless investigators suspect the officer committed a crime.

"By doing this, we are allowing officers to give their best statement, their most accurate statement, and most importantly, a timely statement, so we can move forward with the investigation," Acevedo said. "You can't change the facts by reviewing the video. And you can't change the video by looking at it."

Homicide investigators, who have traditionally investigated police shootings for any criminal violations, have defended their practice to Acevedo, saying that seeking officers' statements before showing the video would provide an unbiased report of what happened. Several members of the homicide unit declined to comment for this story.

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