LIVERPOOL, N.Y. -- A detective with the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office who charged a "belligerent" off-duty Syracuse police officer with drunk driving turned his in-car camera off during the arrest.
While officials wouldn't comment on the case, experts agree a policy for when to turn police cameras on and off is needed.
Detective Jeffrey Passino arrived on the Onondaga Lake Parkway shortly after a Liverpool police officer pulled over the Syracuse cop on Dec. 19.
Passino went up to Syracuse officer Ty Cogan's pickup truck and asked for his driver's license. Cogan struggled to get the license, Passino wrote in court papers accusing Cogan of DWI.
"It was at this time I looked at the license and saw that I knew the operator Ty Cogan from high school. Feeling comfortable with knowing Ty Cogan I shut the in-car audio and video off," Passino said.
Soon after, Cogan began yelling and swearing at Passino, he said. Cogan refused to be handcuffed, and would not get down on the ground or back up when ordered, Passino said.
According to the reports, as Passino, the Liverpool officer and another sheriff's deputy helped arrest Cogan, he kicked at them, attempted to bite one of them and broke another's glasses. He caused Passino a one-inch gash to his left middle finger's knuckle, Passino wrote.
When and why a police camera is turned on and off is the subject of discussion as law enforcement across the country begin obtaining and implementing policies for body-worn cameras. National and local experts agree that it's important to have a clear policy in place dictating when officers should use their cameras.
Sheriff's office spokesman Jon Seeber declined to comment and did not provide the department's policy on in-car cameras. Sheriff Gene Conway and Undersheriff Jason Cassalia did not return requests for comment.
Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick also declined to comment on Cogan's case. He, however, said the events in Ferguson, Missouri and the president's offer of $17 million to fund body cameras for police nationwide has sparked a conversation among prosecutors.
Fitzpatrick said he and other DAs from the National District Attorneys Association, for which he is president-elect, have serious concerns about officers using body cameras without having protocols in place.
He thinks a lack of consistent rules in any department could jeopardize cases.
"We all agreed you should have written protocols that are followed," Fitzpatrick said. "I get concerned when a protocol isn't followed."
Dave Roberts, senior program manager of the International Chiefs of Police's Technology Center, emphasized the need for departments to have well-crafted, vetted and enforceable policies for using technology.
"Establishing what those guidelines are ... is important so that everyone understands the rules and how you can monitor what we're doing to ensure we're acting properly," Roberts said.
The sheriff's office has not said what its policy is for turning the dashboard cameras off, or whether officers are given discretion.
The dashboard cameras have proved handy in the past, even in seemingly innocuous traffic stops when it wasn't immediately clear that a recording would be helpful.
In the 2011 murder of Jenni-Lynn Watson, a video showing the traffic stop of Steven Pieper for not having a front license plate ended up being a crucial piece of evidence.
Deputy Sean Andrews stopped Pieper without realizing Watson's body was in the trunk of the car. Andrews was previously suspended after his dashboard camera showed him using a Taser on woman during a traffic stop in 2009.
Authorities said in the Watson case, the stop prompted Pieper to dispose of his ex-girlfriend's body hastily. The video also put Pieper in the area where she was buried. At the time of Pieper's conviction, Fitzpatrick described the stop as "an extremely important part of the case."
Contact Julie McMahon anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992
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