Protesters march with their hands up as they call for a thorough investigation of the shooting death of teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on a street in front of the White House in Washington, August 28, 2014. 
 
 (Reuters) - Police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, have begun wearing body cameras after weeks of unrest over the shooting death of an unarmed black teen by a white officer and sharply differing accounts of the incident, officials said on Sunday. 
 
 Michael Brown, 18, was shot multiple times by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, sparking nearly three weeks of angry protests in the St. Louis suburb and drawing global attention to race relations in the United States. 
 
 Law enforcement and witnesses gave differing accounts of what transpired before Brown was shot, with police saying the teen had struggled with the officer. Witnesses say Brown held up his hands and was surrendering when he was shot multiple times in the head and chest. 
 
 The discrepancy has revived calls for officers across the county to be outfitted with body cameras to help capture an accurate record of police-involved incidents. 
 
 The policy has the support of scores of law enforcement agencies and the American Civil Liberties Union. Opponents say the cameras could be an invasion of privacy and deter people from approaching police with a tip. 
 
 During protests on Saturday, Ferguson officers began wearing small body cameras clipped to their uniforms that recorded crowds, conversations and even some taunts by demonstrators, a police official said on Sunday. 
 
 Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the cameras have been well received by officers. 
 
 "They are really enjoying them," he said. "They are trying to get used to using them." 
 
 The cameras were donated by two video surveillance companies, Safety Visions and Digital Ally. In a statement on its website, Safety Vision said it donated the cameras in the hopes that they could bring transparency to future investigations. 
 
 "The city of Ferguson has gone through an unfortunate series of events and Safety Vision body cameras and flashlight DVR will assist in capturing prima facie evidence for investigations involving vandalism, looting, and shots fired," the statement said. 
 
 Some stores were looted in nightly protests, and police responded with riot gear and moved in military equipment to try to quell the turmoil. 
 
 A St. Louis County grand jury has begun hearing evidence about Brown's killing and the U.S. Justice Department has opened its own investigation. 
 
 (Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Sandra Maler) ||||| Minneapolis officers failed to turn on their body cameras in the first fatal police shooting since the city began equipping cops with the devices last year. 
 
 On Saturday night, officer Mohamed Noor and another officer responded to a call of a possible assault in south Minneapolis. Neither had their body camera on when Noor fired the shots that killed 911 caller Justine Ruszczyk. Noor's attorney confirmed his identity to MPR News. 
 
 Minneapolis police are required to turn on body cameras in more than a dozen situations — including traffic or suspicious-person stops, and prior to any use of force, according to the police department's Policy and Procedure Manual. 
 
 Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor City of Minneapolis 
 
 "If a BWC [body-worn camera] is not activated prior to a use of force, it shall be activated as soon as it is safe to do so," reads the manual. 
 
 There's still a lot about the lead up to the shooting that's unknown, said Jenny Singleton of the Police Conduct Oversight Commission, or PCOC. But it appears to her that the cameras should have been turned on. 
 
 "We do know there was a gun discharged, which obviously is a use of force incident," Singleton said. 
 
 The PCOC researched body cameras and provided recommendations in 2014. 
 
 The commission also conducted several community listening sessions. Many of the people who attended the sessions said they hoped the cameras would provide transparency and accountability for officers who use excessive force. 
 
 Those calls for transparency and accountability rose significantly after officer Dustin Schwarze shot and killed Jamar Clark in 2015. 
 
 Dave Bicking, with Communities United Against Police Brutality, is a former member of the city's Civilian Review Authority, now known as the Office of Police Conduct Review. 
 
 Bicking said he favored a policy in which there would be less officer discretion for when the cameras should be turned on and off. 
 
 With a few exceptions for the sake of privacy, he said, "there's no reason not to have them on as basically the default." 
 
 Justine Damond was shot and killed by Minneapolis police late Saturday night. Courtesy Stephen Govel 
 
 The American Civil Liberties Union was cautiously supportive of the body camera roll out. While the organization was concerned about privacy for people captured on police video, it expressed hope that cameras would increase transparency and reduce incidence of police violence. 
 
 However, the lack of video may affect what will happen to the officers involved. 
 
 The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating, and it will eventually turn over its findings to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. 
 
 Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said while he doesn't have any more information than what's been publicized, he feels the officers should have started recording the interaction. 
 
 "At this time, it's our understanding that there is no video or audio evidence, but that's only what we've been told," said Freeman. "The investigation is in its early stages. I hope there is." 
 
 Freeman added that video and audio evidence makes his decision easier because it will present "more concrete evidence." 
 
 Freeman will decide whether Noor and his partner will face criminal charges. It is not clear from the Minneapolis police policy manual what kind of discipline the officers could face for failing to turn on their cameras. ||||| Facebook 
 
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 After a week and a half of tense confrontations, arrests and recriminations in protests over the police killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown, officials in Ferguson, Missouri, promised Wednesday to explore sweeping changes in the city's law enforcement structure — including the possibility of putting cameras on all officers' vests. "We plan to learn from this tragedy," city leaders said in a memo lamenting the "discord and heartbreak" that have visited the community since Brown, 18, was shot to death Aug. 9. 
 
 The statement, which was unsigned but was attributed to "our mayor, members of the City Council and city employees," said the city was exploring short- and long-term responses to "the concerns raised as a result of this devastating series of events." Most immediately, they asked residents to stay home at night to "allow peace to settle in, and allow for the justice process to take its course." But they also said they were reviewing wide-ranging changes in police operations, including the use of cameras in police cars and attached to officers' vests, working to boost the number of African Americans applying to the police academy, and requiring officers to live in the city of Ferguson. 
 
 Critics of the police say that had officers been wearing cameras, much more would be known about both the shooting of Brown and about interactions between police and protesters afterward. An online petition urging the Obama administration to work for a "Mike Brown Law" requiring all state and local police departments to use such cameras had reached more than 123,000 signatures by Tuesday evening. 
 
 IN-DEPTH 
 
 SOCIAL 
 
 cool pledge bro but can we get those vest cameras on TONIGHT? because cops in #Ferguson sound thisclose to killing someone (else). — ClinicEscort (@ClinicEscort) August 19, 2014 
 
 Vest cameras. Consider the petition (https://t.co/JiQC1TIzd0), and results from their use in Oakland (http://t.co/Ajz3Cp4Drx) — Aaron Lahman (@close_paren) August 16, 2014 
 
 — M. Alex Johnson ||||| Nearly 3,000 body cameras are being pulled off the streets after one exploded inside a Staten Island precinct overnight, NY1 has exclusively learned. 
 
 It happened early Sunday at the 121 Precinct stationhouse as a patrol officer prepared to head out for the midnight shift. He noticed smoke coming out of the bottom of the device and took it off his shirt before the unit exploded. A photo of the exploding body camera, which the NY1 investigative team obtained, can be seen in the video above. 
 
 The officer wasn't injured, but it appears this was the result of a defect that causes the camera's battery to ignite. 
 
 16 precincts across the city use these cameras, the Vievu LE5, and as a result Police Commissioner James O'Neill is prohibiting officers from using them until the defect is fixed. 
 
 In a statement, an NYPD spokeswoman said, "Nothing is more important than the safety of our officers, and equipping the NYPD with the best equipment is a paramount priority. All officers assigned LE-5 cameras were instructed to immediately remove the cameras and bring them back to their commands. The Department is in the process of collecting and removing the LE-5 cameras from the commands." 
 
 There are 2,990 of this specific camera in use in 16 precincts across the city. In total, the NYPD has deployed 15,500 body-worn cameras. The earlier version, the LE4, is not affected by the defect. 
 
 The NYPD launched its body camera pilot program in 2017, and is on track to equip all 22,000 patrol officers with cameras by the end of 2019. 
 
 The city's largest police union, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, declined to comment on the incident. 
 
 But the use of body cameras has been a sensitive issue with the union for years. 
 
 The police department moved to adopt body cameras after a Manhattan federal judge ordered the department test them as a way to curb stop-and-frisk searches of black and Latino men that she ruled unconstitutional in 2013. 
 
 The police union, which is fighting to block the public disclosure of encounters on police body cameras, won a major victory last month, when a state appeals panel blocked the release of NYPD body camera footage until it hears arguments in November. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association says the department's release of footage is "illegal and arbitrary." 
 
 In a separate case, NY1 has sued the NYPD to get access to the footage from the 2015 pilot program, arguing that the video is part of the public record. 
 
 Main story image above: A file image of a body camera. ||||| Footage from police dashboard cameras and body cameras helped lead to the swift sidelining of three officers involved in the latest fatal shooting by Chicago police, but officials acknowledged Monday that the shooting itself was not captured on video. 
 
 Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the department is investigating why the body camera worn by the officer who fatally shot 18-year-old Paul O'Neal failed to show those critical moments. 
 
 The Thursday night shooting came as the embattled Police Department accelerates its use of body cameras in a bid to improve transparency. Police have expanded a pilot project that started in 2015 in just one district to an additional six districts just last month with the addition of hundreds of cameras. The three officers had begun using the cameras just recently, Guglielmi said. 
 
 Whatever the reason, the failure to capture O'Neal's shooting shows the technology won't be the panacea that some had hoped. 
 
 "People's hopes and expectations have gotten a little exaggerated," said Samuel Walker, a professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and an expert on police accountability. "There is a problem with officers not turning them on. … They are refusing to (or) not thinking about it as part of their regular work habit. It is going to take a while for us to get full compliance." 
 
 O'Neal, who was unarmed, was shot about 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the South Shore neighborhood after he crashed a reportedly stolen Jaguar into two Chicago police vehicles and took off running near 74th Street and Merrill Avenue. 
 
 Two officers had opened fire at O'Neal while he was still in the Jaguar, according to police sources. A police dashboard camera captured one of the officers firing his weapon, a source said. 
 
 A third officer who had been in one of the police vehicles struck by the Jaguar gave chase after O'Neal fled on foot and fatally shot him. 
 
 Based on a preliminary review, police don't believe that officer intentionally disabled the body camera, a source said. Rather, investigators suspect the crash or the officer's lack of experience operating the camera played a role in the failure. 
 
 O'Neal was shot in the back, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. 
 
 On Monday, O'Neal's mother filed a federal lawsuit against the undisclosed officers, alleging they opened fire "without legal justification." 
 
 The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the shooting, but police Superintendent Eddie Johnson moved quickly over the weekend to strip the three officers of their police powers, putting them on paid administrative duties. He didn't disclose the specific reasons for his actions other than that they had violated department policies. 
 
 But in 2015, the department revised its use-of-force policy to prohibit officers from firing on a moving vehicle if it was the only threat against the officers or others. The policy, however, states that officers should not "unreasonably endanger" themselves or others to adhere to the policy. 
 
 The swift action by Johnson won praise from critics who have long accused the Police Department of a code of silence when it comes to dealing with wayward officers. 
 
 Craig Futterman, a University of Chicago law professor who has studied police misconduct for years, said it was noteworthy that Johnson acted against the officers for decisions that led up to the shooting. 
 
 "There are often shootings that if you were just analyzing what was happening in the last second you might say the shooting is consistent with policy and justified," he said. "But if you take two or three steps backward, there may have been no reason for the situation to have escalated to this point. 
 
 "That is another piece of the welcome change … looking at the decisions and actions that led up to the shooting to see if we can do something better in the future. What do we need to train our officers better?" 
 
 Still, Futterman said he remained cautious. 
 
 "A circle the wagons (mentality) doesn't change overnight," he said. 
 
 Attorney Michael Oppenheimer talks to media in aftermath of the fatal police-involved shooting of Paul O'Neal. Aug. 1, 2016. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) Attorney Michael Oppenheimer talks to media in aftermath of the fatal police-involved shooting of Paul O'Neal. Aug. 1, 2016. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) SEE MORE VIDEOS 
 
 In a telephone interview Monday night, Dean Angelo Sr., head of the Fraternal Order of Police union that represents rank-and-file officers, said he has talked to two of the officers. They are "concerned about their livelihood" and know they'll undergo intense scrutiny for their split-second decisions, he said. 
 
 Angelo said there's "a learning curve" to properly using the body cameras and that it can be difficult for officers to remember to activate them "in a heavy-stress situation." 
 
 Chicago's increased use of body and dashboard cameras comes as the department faces one of worst crises in its history. The court-ordered release of a video in November of a white officer shooting black teen Laquan McDonald 16 times led to widespread protests, the firing of then-Superintendent Garry McCarthy and the launching of a U.S. Justice Department probe of policing practices. 
 
 According to department policy, the cameras should be activated by officers when they are making stops or responding to calls, including foot and vehicle pursuits. 
 
 Walker, the policing expert, said most departments allow for some latitude for officers who fail to turn their cameras on under certain pressing circumstances. 
 
 "We have to say that it is possible in the heat of the moment the officer did not think to turn on his camera," he said. 
 
 But evidence that cameras were intentionally disabled should result in discipline, Walker said. 
 
 At a news conference at the scene of O'Neal's shooting, a lawyer for his mother, Tanisha Gibson, announced the lawsuit had been filed Monday in federal court. 
 
 Attorney Michael Oppenheimer accused the officers of exacting "street justice" and expressed frustration at the Police Department's disclosure that no body cameras captured O'Neal's shooting. 
 
 "Supposedly, it is a new era where we get body cams to make things transparent," he said. "Many, many times police officers get blamed for something they may not have done. … The body cams are supposed to correct that to show the truth. All we have asked is for the truth to come out." 
 
 Asked if his case was hurt by O'Neal being in a reportedly stolen Jaguar, Oppenheimer said the teen didn't deserve to be killed. 
 
 "The penalties for ... those crimes do not include death," he said. 
 
 Police say Paul O'Neal, 18, was fatally shot after officers stopped a reported-stolen Jaguar on Thursday night in the 7300 block of South Merrill Avenue in Chicago. Three officers were relieved of their police powers following the shooting. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) Police say Paul O'Neal, 18, was fatally shot after officers stopped a reported-stolen Jaguar on Thursday night in the 7300 block of South Merrill Avenue in Chicago. Three officers were relieved of their police powers following the shooting. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) SEE MORE VIDEOS 
 
 O'Neal's mother did not attend the news conference, but activist Ja'Mal Green, acting as a spokesman for the family, said Gibson wanted the public to know that her son "wanted to be someone in life." 
 
 Still, Green said, O'Neal had his struggles.
– The Ferguson police got to test-drive a new device over the weekend: body cameras, which officials hope will show a clearer picture of what happens during police incidents like the ones that occurred during the Ferguson protests. About 50 cameras, which are positioned on officers' uniforms to enable up-close audio and video recording, were given to local law enforcement by two manufacturers and tried out on Saturday during the most recent Ferguson march, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "[Officers] are really enjoying them [and] trying to get used to using them," says Tom Jackson, Ferguson's chief of police. The subject of body surveillance equipment for cops has become a hot topic since the shooting death of Michael Brown. Although some critics claim the cameras might be an invasion of privacy, law enforcement agencies and the ACLU are all for them, reports Reuters. Another St. Louis-area police department has already approved buying the devices for its force, notes the Post-Dispatch, and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said at a news conference last week that his department is "actively looking" to use the technology, reports PoliceOne. It looks like other departments may be following suit: Digital Ally, one of the companies that supplied the Ferguson police with its cameras, says it has witnessed a "fivefold" jump in camera inquiries since Brown's death, notes Reuters.