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East Hampton police update Taser classification and body-worn camera guidance; council adopts policy changes
Summary
Chief Dennis Worner described minor changes to two police general orders: POST no longer treats the Axon 'Taser 10' as a firearm for Inspector General automatic review, and body-worn camera guidance allows stopping recording in certain sensitive investigations (e.g., sexual-assault victims) with reporting notations and redaction options for FOI requests; council approved the changes.
Chief Dennis Worner briefed the council on two proposed modifications to existing police general orders drawn from POST guidance.
The first change concerns the Axon Taser 10. Worner said the device had been classified by the ATF as a firearm, which had previously triggered separate investigations by the Office of the Inspector General when deployed. Worner said POST has removed that automatic classification; officers’ deployments remain subject to internal investigation but will not automatically be referred to the Inspector General solely because the device is a Taser 10.
The second modification updates the department’s body-worn-and in-car camera general order. Worner explained that POST and statute require body-worn cameras to record during specified law-enforcement activities but that the policy now allows cameras to be stopped in particular sensitive investigations — for example when a sexual-assault victim requests non-recording. In those cases a notation must be made in the report that the recording was stopped; the department also described its redaction process for FOI requests and said it can redact audio or video to protect privacy.
Council members asked whether officers are required to advise victims of the option to stop recording and how decisions are made in the field. Worner said officers are not obligated to inform victims proactively that they may request stopping the recording; decisions are case-by-case and POST sets the baseline standard. Worner also described prior redaction of juvenile accident footage as an example of how sensitive material can be withheld from public release.
A motion to approve the general-order revisions was made and seconded; the council voted to adopt the changes.
