SAN ANTONIO — A political battle is brewing over when to release bodycam videos from law enforcement.
On Friday, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar wrote a letter to county commissioners saying he plans on releasing videos 30 days after an incident occurs.
That’s not what county leaders agreed to when they discussed a change in policy in December.
The move is upsetting those who lost a loved one at the hands of law enforcement.
“A soldier shouldn’t have to come home from the battlefield and find themselves cut down where they’re supposed to be safe,” Robyn Swiney told KENS 5. She says Damian Daniels was like a son to her, and his death still hurts her and other loved ones.
Bexar County Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed Daniels, an Army veteran, after responding to his home for a mental health call in August 2020.
Edited body cam video of the deadly confrontation with deputies was released one year and four months after Daniels’ death.
“You have to go through the investigation, but two years is way past a reasonable time, then it becomes [a question] what are you hiding and why?” Swiney said.
Swiney hasn’t watched the video yet, but Simone Coleman, a close friend of Daniels, watched it.
“They made him look hostile and angry when he is completely the opposite, gentle and kind,” Coleman said.
The bodycam video was released not long after Bexar County Commissioners approved a change in the sheriff’s office bodycam policy.
The county’s Office of Criminal Justice proposed at a commissioner’s court meeting on December 6 the policy be reformed to release bodycam video 60 days after an incident occurs. Sheriff Javier Salazar proposed a 30-day release policy but asked for additional staff and technology upgrades to make it happen.
County commissioners approved a 10-day release policy. A county spokesperson told KENS 5 the sheriff must formalize the policy and bring it back to commissioners in order to get funding for new equipment.
A letter sent from Sheriff Salazar to commissioners on Friday states:
“I believe that was done capriciously and out of malice by one commissioner who’s no longer on the court and so I disagreed with it. That being said, I think we can attain it."
Sheriff Salazar wrote a letter this week stating he will formalize their policy to release video in 30 days.
If they get new tech, the sheriff says he will work towards changing it from 30 to 10 days within four months.
The letter was upsetting to county commissioner Tommy Calvert.
“We’re going to try to work this out amicably, but I just believe both from a political and tactical standpoint to get what he wants, this kind of talk is very much counterproductive,” Commissioner Calvert said.
The deputy who shot Daniels in 2020 wasn’t indicted. His loved ones feel victims’ families deserve answers as soon as possible.
“It took them 45 minutes to murder my brother, and it took you two years to release the footage…Why do you need time to release an eyewitness account? Make that make sense to me,” Coleman said.
Sheriff Salazar says the bodycam video policy will be discussed at the next commissioner’s court meeting in February.
Salazar says he doesn’t think his letter hurts his chances of getting his funding, but Commissioner Calvert disagrees.
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