Advertisement Should the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department have body cameras? Share Shares Copy Link Copy

At a press conference Monday regarding the shooting and killing of 28-year-old Elisha Lucero, Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales said Lucero lunged at deputies with a knife. They tried using a Taser but said that did not work. Three deputies shot at her multiple times. The department does not have body cameras.“A camera is not going to save anybody's life," said Gonzales.The most recent report available from the Bureau of Justice reports about half of departments across the country use body cameras.KOAT sat down with Paul Haidel with the American Civil Liberties Union to play him portions of Monday’s press conference.“I would push back on this assertion that a camera is not going to save anyone’s life,” he said.Haidel pointed to the killing of James Boyd, a homeless man in 2014. He said the Albuquerque Police Department was forced to revamp their policies regarding use of force and the mentally ill, in part because the officers involved were wearing body cameras.“It’s more about police departments are treating these instances as learning experiences and improving their policies,” said Haidel.“We have other priorities in this department, like staffing this department adequately to keep the public safe,” said Gonzales.Haidel wondered about the amount of money spent on lawsuits. In just one case from 2017 where a deputy shot and killed two men, the county paid $400,000 to settle with one of the victim’s families. Haidel said that money could be put to better use to increase transparency.“A portion of that money could be reinvested in technology that is going to make it a more professional police department and could result in lives being saved," he said.The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department has 321 sworn deputies. For comparison, the Albuquerque Police Department has more than double that, and its body camera program costs about $882,000 per year.Lucero’s case has been sent to the district attorney’s office for review.