Almost a year and a half after Arian McCree was shot dead by police in a Wal-Mart parking lot, handcuffed, and in possession of a gun, his family still has many unanswered questions.
According to police, McCree, 28, left Wal-Mart, South Carolina, after being handcuffed for stealing a $ 45 lock in November 2019.
However, it is unclear exactly what happened next, as the corresponding police officer did not activate the body camera until McCree, a black father and former high school soccer star, was shot down by a police bullet hail. is.
“Many things don’t add up,” his cousin Tabasa Strosa told NBC News. “But if the body camera was on, I would have known a lot about this.”
Body cameras are regarded as an important tool for increasing police transparency and providing important information in cases of use of force.
McCree incident, and recent deadly police shootings Dantelite, Adam Toledo And Maki Bryant Emphasizes the importance of body camera video for transparency. Approximately half of the more than 12,000 local police stations nationwide have body cameras, but having a body camera does not mean that they will be used properly.
According to experts, the police station needs to implement three basic rules to enable the camera. Tell police officers exactly when to hit the record, announce that they are filming, and outline the clear consequences of breaking the rules.
However, many of the country’s major police stations do not follow these basic guidelines. Looking at the body camera policies of 28 large police stations in the geographically representative US states, along with Chester’s policies, NBC News found that 45% were specific about when police officers should start recording. I found that I gave instructions. About 41% requested executives to announce that they were recording. And only 34 percent clearly stated that there were consequences of not recording.
Danny Murphy, Deputy Director of Compliance for the Baltimore Police Department, said:
“They aim to record interactions to foster accountability and public confidence, and in the absence of actual policies, departments are prepared for failure.”
Murphy knows this directly.
He was previously assigned to refurbish the New Orleans Police Station after an investigation by the Justice Department. Various problems were found inside that.
Under Murphy’s supervision, the department has introduced a number of new policies and procedures, including new guidelines for the use of body cameras.
Police in New Orleans have begun collating data from body cameras with officers’ case reports to see exactly how police and civilian interactions are documented. Body camera footage has also become part of the police station employee review process.
According to Murphy, the change has led to a surge in police officers following proper body camera procedures. According to Murphy, complaints about the use of force plummeted 60 percent from 45 to 18 between 2014 and 2018.
“Body cameras are not a panacea,” he said. “But they are an important foundation of reform. Having a camera is one thing. Making sure the camera is turned on is the next important step, but that If so, we need to monitor our performance and be accountable. “
Murphy was involved in a pattern of illegal activity targeting the black community in violation of both the Constitution and the Commonwealth, after a Judiciary investigation revealed that he was involved in a pattern of illegal activity targeting the black community in April 2019 as part of a consent decree. I started working for the police. Anti-discrimination law.
The new Baltimore body camera policy requires police officers to turn them on as soon as possible when responding to an incident.
“On non-urgent calls, our officers are supposed to activate the camera before leaving the vehicle to capture the entire incident,” Murphy said. “For emergency calls, whether it’s one minute or five minutes to the scene, turn it on the moment you receive the call.”
That’s not what happened in the McCree case.
According to police, he arrived at Wal-Mart in Chester before 9 am on November 23, 2019.
Police said McCree picked up a $ 45.87 combination door handle lock, left the store without paying, and told the cashier to “put it on his tab.”
He returned to the store a few hours later and approached an off-duty police officer who knew he was working as a Wal-Mart guard.
According to a state investigator, McCree asked for the cost of locking the door handle, but was soon handcuffed and taken to the store’s loss prevention office.
Surveillance footage obtained by NBC News shows that McCree is assaulting another off-duty police officer who was identified as a guard and was working as a guard. Nicholas Harris, then run to the parking lot.
Harris chased McCree, but lost him outside the store.
There are conflicting reports of what happened next.
McCree was handcuffed behind his back and ran into his car to get the gun, according to a report from the state law enforcement department investigating the shooting. Some witnesses said he fired it. Others said he had never seen him with a gun.
Harris reportedly told investigators that he had found McCree near Taco Bell across the parking lot. So McCree ran away with his heads facing each other. Harris reportedly told investigators that he had found McCree again, but the handcuffed man was armed.
Harris told investigators that he could see McCree as “he had the complete intention of killing me.” After firing a few shots, Harris hid behind the car for help and said he had run out of ammunition.
Around 11:30 am, the corresponding police officer, Justin Baker, arrived at the Wal-Mart parking lot. According to a state investigation, he pulled up in front of the store and heard a “fire” call on police radio.
Baker got out of the car, pulled out his gun and walked in the parking lot. McCree emerged between the two cars and Baker fired, the report said. Baker then approached McCree and pulled a silver pistol from underneath the front of the fatally injured man’s body, he said.
State investigators later determined that Baker had fired 13 and 11 Harris. No shell casing was found from McCree’s gun.
Baker went on to tell investigators that McCree had pointed his gun at him and refused to obey orders to drop his weapons.
But there was no way to verify that account – Baker turned on his body camera only after McCree was hit by a police bullet.
However, there are some footage from Baker’s body camera at the moment of McCree’s death. His body camera with auto-recording was set to save the last two minutes of footage without audio when the recording was reached.
Chester police released body camera footage in June last year as the incident received new attention following the death of George Floyd during Minneapolis police detention.
But for many, including the McCree family, distant footage without audio raised more questions than answers.
Eric Pizza, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, reviewed body camera footage taken by McCree on NBC News.
“First and foremost, I didn’t really learn much about the situation by watching the video,” said Pizza, who specializes in analyzing what could lead to the use of police force.
“I don’t know if I couldn’t hear the policeman’s orders, if he was ordered to stop, and if he was ordered to drop the gun. I don’t know if the policeman saw the gun. “He added. “The review of this case lacks all of this.”
The South Carolina Attorney General refused to prosecute any police officer for self-defense and defense of others. A US lawyer is investigating the case.
Police officials didn’t give a reason, but Baker is no longer employed by the department. Neither Baker nor Harris responded to the request for comment. Two other off-duty officers guarding Harris at Wal-Mart that day also declined to request comment.
Chester’s then police chief Eric Williams was suspended in January and a provisional chief was appointed after state investigators investigated the department’s finances. Rock Hill Herald..
Williams refused to comment on NBC News about the McCree case before his suspension. He previously defended the police officers involved.
“When someone is walking towards you with a gun at you, I don’t know of many deescalations that you can insert into that situation but can handle.” Williams said last June..
The city of Chester did not respond to requests for comment. NBC News reviewed the police body camera policy last September, but it’s not clear if it has been updated.
Chester police did not respond to requests for comment. Williams also declined to request comment.
Meanwhile, the McCree family filed an illegal death proceeding against the police station.
In an interview with NBC News, McCree’s brother Michael demanded strict body camera policies nationwide.
“Many people’s lives are at stake,” said Michael McCree. “And people are using it because the camera doesn’t rotate.”