Colorado Department of Corrections spends more than $500,000 on program to equip parole officers with body cams, then shelves it
For law enforcement officers across Colorado, a camera should be part of the uniform they wear every day.
"Are you post certified? Are you a peace officer?" CBS Colorado Investigator Karen Morfitt asked a Colorado Department of Corrections community parole officer who asked not to be identified.
"I am," he said.
"Do you wear a body worn camera?" Morfitt asked.
"I don't."
"Why is that?"
"That's a great question."
The man says he's not willing to show his face on television because he's worried about possible retaliation.
"I think that the things we go into -- into these homes, probably we should have cameras on," he said.
Until recently, leaders within the Colorado Department of Corrections seemed to agree.
Records obtained by CBS Colorado show in 2022 they spent more than $235,000 on hundreds of Motorola cameras for the adult parole division. The software cost over $141,000 a year for a five-year quote, with a grand total of nearly $1 million.
A DOC spokesperson says they never entered into a contract.
Two years later, and with more than $500,000 gone, those cameras are sitting on shelves.
"I received an email from CDOC stating that we were turning in all of our cameras," the man said.
That email from director Andre Stancil says they are pausing the "pilot program." Though an internal document detailing the project's timeline suggests the pilot phase ended in 2022 and the goal was to have them fully implemented in April of 2023 before Colorado law mandated use by local law enforcement.
Issues with the equipment led to a delay.
Last October suddenly all work and all communication on the project ended. That was just days after, parole officer Christine Guerin was killed.
"We lost a human being. We lost an officer, we lost a mom, a wife and that's a tough one," the parole officer said.
While multiple policies had been drafted, none were ever approved and at the time of Guerin's death there was no clear guidance on when and how to use the body worn cameras.
The suspect in her case pleaded not guilty and claimed he didn't know she was a parole officer and that he acted in self-defense.
"It would have definitely showed from multiple angles what occurred during that incident. I know that there has been some talk about they did not have the proper equipment," he said.
Colorado's "Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity Act" mandates all local law enforcement agencies and the Colorado State Patrol equip their officers with body worn cameras during interactions with the public.
But in the same email, detailing the end of the pilot program, the DOC director explains "this legislation does not specifically mandate the use of BWC's for the Colorado Department of Corrections, division of adult parole."
Former state Rep. Leslie Herod wrote the bill in 2020 then worked on its changes in 2021. She says that's not her interpretation of the law.
"At the end of the day, every person who can take away someone's rights, everyone who has the ability and the duty really to serve and protect our community should be held to accountability standards. Now, what I do know is that the Department of Corrections has purchased body cameras ... for the department, and so it would be curious to me why they would even need a law," she said.
Herod says if DOC believes there is some sort of loophole in the law, it needs to be fixed.
"If they choose to take that posture I believe that the general assembly should act and should say, listen, all post certified officers at this point should be held within the police accountability laws," Herod said.
Parole officers CBS Colorado spoke with say they want the protection that comes with those cameras, but even more they want the public to know how their money is being spent.
"There's some questions that need to be answered on that. That's a lot of money, and that's a lot of taxpayer money, that just went for nothing.
A Department of corrections spokesperson says the department is not currently under contract with any BWC system provider and they are evaluating pilot results to determine the next appropriate steps.
The suspect in Guerin's case is set to go to trial next month.
