Irwin has joined six other municipalities in the county that have an agreement to let prosecutors review police body camera recordings before publicly releasing the footage.
Irwin council this week unanimously approved the memorandum of understanding from Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli.
Prosecutors who will review the footage are in the best position to decide “what is to be released and how it is to be released,” said Irwin Police Chief Dan Wensel.
Solicitor Zachary Kansler explained that the memorandum of understanding with the district attorney is in line with state Act 22 that allows the prosecutors to review the recordings by law enforcement before deciding to comply with a request to release the footage.
North Huntingdon was the first of the municipalities to sign the memorandum when it approved it in December. Since then, officials in Penn Township, South Greensburg, Southwest Greensburg, Rostraver and Murrysville also have approved the agreement, said Melanie Jones, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office. Approving the memorandum is optional for the municipalities, Jones said.
South Greensburg Chief Bryan Painter said it was a good idea to have the prosecutors review the footage because “they have the knowledge of the law.”
The borough had approved the agreement in February, even though the department does not have body-worn cameras for the police department, Painter said.
Under terms of the agreement, prosecutors can review the footage of criminal and non-criminal matters, with the exception of summary traffic offenses or allegations of police misconduct, unless those allegations are the subject of a criminal prosecution or investigation.
Before any audio or video recording is released, the district attorney’s prosecutors will get the un-redacted recording, as well as any proposed redacting or a summary of what might be cut out before it is released. Prosecutors also will get any criminal complaints filed, as well as pertinent agreements with witnesses or informants.
The prosecutorial review would occur, regardless of whether a police department agrees to a request that the footage be made public.
By turning over the recordings to the county prosecutors, that office has the computer software equipment to block the identity of someone in a video who should not be seen, such as a juvenile, Wensel said.
Ziccarelli proposed the review by prosecutors after Ligonier Valley Police released footage of a fatal shooting last year in Ligonier Township. The district attorney had presented the idea of adopting a memorandum regarding the release of video and audio of police-related incidents, to a meeting of local police chiefs last year. The distinct attorney said her agreement is modeled after ones used in other counties.
Ligonier Valley Police Chief Michael Matrunics could not be reached for comment Friday.
In conjunction with approving the memorandum, council approved a $10,000 grant from the district attorney’s office for the purchase of three body-worn cameras for Irwin’s police department. The police department will purchase the cameras and software equipment from Axon Enterprise Inc.
Wensel said he will draft a standard operating procedure for use of the police body-worn cameras and present it to Kansler for his review. He said he would contact other police departments to get input on the procedures for the police cameras.
The police department also will seek money from the U.S. Justice Department’s Small Rural and Tribal Body Worn Camera program to purchase three additional cameras. That program will match the borough’s contribution up to $2,000 per body camera, Wensel said.
The equipment includes the ability to store online the video taken by police, Wensel said.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.