Why Nashville police lacked dash, body cameras in fatal shooting — despite millions authorized

Joey Garrison
The Tennessean

As investigators review Thursday night's fatal shooting of a 25-year-old black man by a police officer in North Nashville, they have no video footage captured by police to look at.

There was no video camera on the dashboard of the vehicle that Officer Andrew Delke, also 25, was driving before he shot Daniel Hambrick after a chase that ensued.

Nor was the officer wearing a body camera that could have chronicled the entire exchange.

Metro Nashville Police officers work the scene of a shooting near Jo Johnston and 17th Avenue North Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn.

That's despite the Metro Council voting in June 2017 to spend $15 million for new body-worn cameras and dashboard cameras. The next month the council authorized an additional $4 million for mobile-data computers for the transition.

NASHVILLE POLICE SHOOTING Video shows police shooting took place after Daniel Hambrick ran from officer

Only 20 cameras installed countywide

More than a year after Nashville took those actions, only 20 cameras have been installed, according to police, and the program is still in a pilot phase. It's involved limited testing: 20 officers trying out four different body camera manufacturers. 

In the case of Hambrick's shooting, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has instead relied on nearby surveillance footage to help piece together what happened.

Mayor David Briley's office has chalked up the little progress on police cameras to a procurement process that is still open. Metro did not issue a request for proposals for the cameras until December, six months after funding was approved.

Michael Cass, a Briley spokesman, said "relatively little" of the $15 million has actually been spent. He said the city is expected to review vendors' proposals soon.

A meeting is set for Aug. 9 to narrow the list. After Metro received 12 responses to its December RFP, the city has whittled possible vendors down to three.

The police department has spent $335,007 on storage technology for the cameras and an additional $16,974 for wireless access points. Both are in preparation for 90-day field trial for the cameras, Cass said.

“A loss of life under these circumstances is devastating for all concerned," Briley said in a statement. "At this tragic moment, I hope everyone will wait for the facts and not rush to judgment."

He said he's spoken to Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson and that "both expect the TBI to do a full investigation of the shooting before turning over its findings to District Attorney General (Glenn) Funk’s office."

“We’ve requested proposals that will allow us to bring more cameras to Metro’s police officers," Briley said. "I believe it’s time for a comprehensive assessment of how we do policing in our city.”

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TBI relying on surveillance video instead of dash, body cams

The TBI, which is handling the investigation, says video taken from nearby public housing  — taken by the Metro Development and Housing Agency — shows Hambrick and two others fleeing after being approached by Delke, the police officer, in a parking lot.

The three males had exited a vehicle driven by Hambrick as Delke, who is white, arrived in the parking lot. 

Police say they were searching for a stolen vehicle in the area, had tried to stop a vehicle earlier in the night, but the driver fled instead. 

Hambrick and the two others turned and ran from the officer after Delke entered the parking lot, according to the TBI, and Hambrick appears to have had a dark object in his hand.

"The situation escalated further, for reasons still under investigation, and resulted in the officer firing his service weapon several times, striking Hambrick," the TBI says.

Call for body cameras

In other cities, installing body cameras also has taken time. For instance, it took Franklin two years to put in place its body camera program. 

Nashville's push for body-worn and dash cameras took center-stage after the February 2017 shooting of Jocques Clemmons, a 31-year-old black man who was shot and killed in Nashville by a white Metro police officer during an altercation. Like Hambrick, police say Clemmons was armed.

Camera funding:Mayor Barry commits to fund body cameras for Nashville police

Months before, then-Mayor Megan Barry in the fall of 2016 had committed to covering body cameras for all Nashville police officers. It was followed up with the initial $15 million allocation in her 2017-18 budget, approved by the council as a part of a long-term plan with a $23 million price tag.

Metro police begin limited body camera testing on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017.

In October, the department began a limited test with 20 officers testing cameras from four different companies. 

Advocates question police department's camera implementation

Criminal justice advocates, who have led the call for police cameras, accused the city of taking its time installing them.

Kyle Mothershead, a Nashville attorney who is among them, tweeted that the department has "stonewalled implementation with (a) ridiculous demand for on-site data storage," which he alleged costs 20 times the cost of using the cloud.

"Megan Barry committed to body cams in October 2016 — we should have had footage of this incident," he said.

Police spokesman Don Aaron said the department "strongly disagrees."

"We have been moving forward with two projects, the acquisition of new mobile data computers (in-car computers) to replace our outdated ones, and the procurement of body camera/dash camera systems," Aaron said. "Initial funding for the mobile data computers was approved at about the same time as the capital funding for the body cameras/dash cameras."

He said the department needs to "ensure that the mobile data computer system is stable before beginning testing on the body camera/dash camera systems, as the camera systems will use routers in the mobile data computers to upload video."

Council demanded 'immediate purchase' of police cameras

The council made clear last year that it wanted the police department to act quickly when it came to police dash and body cameras.

In March 2017, the council voted 30-5, with two abstentions, to approve a memorializing resolution that requested "the immediate purchase" of enough body cameras to cover the department's flex teams, which span Nashville's eight police precincts and are deployed where crime is highest in Nashville. This includes the North Nashville neighborhood where Hambrick was shot

More:Nashville council calls for 'immediate purchase' of police body cameras

The resolution called for deployment of the 168 cameras by June 30, 2017.

Councilwoman Karen Johnson, who was among the resolution's sponsors, said she would like the police department to provide an update on the implementation of the cameras.

"What are the phases of the rollout plan?" she said. "Given this situation, we need to receive an update on that."

Aaron said the department estimates beginning the installation of in-car computers for cameras in September and testing the actual camera systems in October. 

Cass said the mayor wants the rollout "as soon as possible after a thorough procurement process that leads to the best outcome for the city."

Staff writer Adam Tamburin contributed to this report. Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236, jgarrison@tennessean.com and on Twitter @joeygarrison.