HAMBURG, N.Y. — Town of Hamburg police announced there is no footage of last week’s altercation that led to a woman being shot and killed by an officer, sparking a conversation about ‘where are their body cameras?’
According to police, 36-year-old Lisa Haight was tracked to a residence on McKinley Parkway and officers found an open door to that residence.
Police said officers announced themselves, made entry to clear the house, and encountered Haight. An altercation ensued and the officer discharged their weapon, killing Haight.
However, Tuesday police announced at a press conference that they have no video of this altercation, because their officers do not yet wear body cameras.
“I’m confident that in 2024, we will have body cameras,” Town of Hamburg Police Chief Peter Dienes said.
Chief Dienes said body cameras have been in the works for several years, but that getting them has been a lengthy process.
“This is how long it has taken us to get the grant and then to have the money in the budget,” Dienes said.
Diens said his department had already received funding for body cams from the town board prior to this shooting, and they will be coming later this year.
Erie County district attorney John Flynn is in favor of getting these cameras in as many departments as possible.
Changes have been made in the past. For example, New York State Police have required them since 2020 and Buffalo Police since 2019.
I took some time to look into how common police body cameras are across Erie County, and it turns out Hamburg isn’t the only one that doesn’t have them.
“You get from the body cam footage the real-life facts of what happened and that’s invaluable,” Flynn said.
The DA’s office said most of Erie County’s local departments have police body cameras, as you can see on this map:
However, Hamburg’s position is not uncommon. It’s one of seven town and village police agencies across the county that don’t have body cameras for their officers.
From Flynn’s experience, he feels the cameras help these local departments more often than not.
“999 out of 1000 times, the police officer is going to go by the book and do what is proper all the time,” Flynn said.
John Whitehead is the chief revenue officer at Utility Inc.
His company is based in Georgia, but they provide body cameras to the West Seneca Police Department.
He feels the cameras serve a dual purpose.
“The community point of view says transparency is a must,” Whitehead said. “But from the other angle… body camera really just brings the perspective of the officer.”
He also feels one of the biggest hurdles is the price, but there’s ways to help with that.
“The good news is that there is grants out there and there is… dollars out there to be able to assist with that,” Whitehead said.