SEATTLE --
The Seattle Police Department on Wednesday told KIRO 7 that cameras just weren't rolling during an incident where a man said he was choked in an unprovoked attack by an officer.
David Rengo said Officer Shandy Cobane choked him "just for fun" after arresting him outside of a nightclub in downtown Seattle on April 24 last year. The assault was never recorded on camera and Rango's attorney, Peter Connick, has been trying to figure out why.
"The camera wasn't activated at the time of the stop," Seattle police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said. "I do not know why, in this particular case, why the cameras were not running."
The department's in-car video policy reads that, "If reasonable to do so, (officers) will record their approach to crime scenes and any scene they feel could benefit from being recorded." But Whitcomb said that doesn't mean that officers can turn the cameras off at will.
"Can an officer turn off the camera if he wants to during one of these 911 calls?" KIRO 7 Reporter David Quinlan asked.
"That would be a police violation," Whitcomb said.
Seattle City Councilman Bruce Harrell agreed.
"Certainly you are not allowed to turn it off in the middle of an altercation," he said.
Harrell said he saw the footage of Rengo's arrest and while he wouldn't say if city policy was violated, he did say that the entire matter could have been avoided if officers were equipped with body cameras.
"We are talking about specific circumstances when it should be used to give us the best evidence as possible of what is happening in the field," Harrell said.
Connick told KIRO 7 on Tuesday that "Certain things were intentionally not done. The video wasn't turned on specifically, which was admitted by all officers to be a breach of protocol and procedure. There were gang unit officers who specifically told arresting officers not to give statements."
King County Judge Joan DeBuque found the allegation to be true, according to court records, and vented about the sloppy police work in a hearing.
Police said there could be several reasonable explanations as to why certain officers didn't have their cameras rolling during Rengo's arrest.
"There was no finding that people deliberately did not record and at times that's just the nature of police work," Whitcomb said.
A spokesperson with the Department of Justice told Quinlan on Wednesday evening that she couldn't confirm if Rengo's case was one being investigated as part of a civil rights probe into Seattle police.
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