CLOSE Cincinnati police rolled out their first body cameras during an August 10 presentation and news conference Downtown. The Enquirer/Pat Brennan 
 
 Buy Photo A body camera (Photo: Enquirer file)Buy Photo 
 
 Cincinnati's police union told city officials last week if they want officers to wear body cameras they'll have to pay them extra. 
 
 City leaders announced at a press conference last Wednesday that the first group of police would start wearing the body cameras a move that itself came just days after the city's latest police-involved shooting. 
 
 A lawyer for Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #69, Stephen Lazarus, sent the city a "cease and desist" letter, saying until pay for wearing the equipment has been decided, officers shouldn't wear them. He asked that the city cease the program by Wednesday at the latest, pending the bargaining process. 
 
 "Requiring employees to wear BWCs will change several aspects of their job and regularly assigned duties," Lazarus wrote in a letter dated Aug. 11. "The adoption of of new BWC policies will also have a significant impact on the employees' wages, hours, or other terms and conditions of employment. Accordingly such changes are mandatory subjects that must be bargained to impasse with the union before they are implemented." 
 
 City Manager Harry Black fired back Monday, writing in a memo to council that as the manager of the police department he can order cameras be worn without a contract change, though he added he's hopeful the FOP will wear the cameras. 
 
 "Having a body camera program fosters transparency, allows the city to better protect the public and protects officers from frivolous and fraudulent claims," Black wrote. 
 
 In a letter to Lazarus, shared with the media, Black makes the same point and adds the union was given advance notice that cameras were coming. 
 
 “The FOP had ample opportunity to bargain over its proposal at various bargaining sessions and during mediation,” Black wrote. “The FOP did not focus bargaining towards its BWC proposal. Considering that this is the FOP’s proposal – not management’s – the burden is on the FOP to raise this issue during bargaining.” 
 
 Then, in closing, Black offered to continue discussions. 
 
 The Cincinnati union isn't alone with concerns. Unions around the country are insisting they have a say in the process of wearing cameras. Last year The Denver Post reported Denver's largest police union filed a lawsuit saying the Denver body camera program was illegally developed because it ignored collective bargaining. 
 
 Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #69 President Dan Hils said it's simple: "You want us to wear something new, it needs to be collectively bargained. The responsibility should increase our compensation." 
 
 At the moment, there's no planned negotiations. The two sides are at war over a pay raise. 
 
 Black has suggested the city can afford a 3 percent raise for police officers, but Mayor John Cranley, in a surprise move, has called for 5 percent raises for four unions, including the police union. 
 
 Some members of council have publicly questioned and criticized giving raises outside the bargaining process, but Hils said it's' the only way officers will be fairly compensated. 
 
 The cease and desist letter makes a different argument -- some issues related to the contract are better handled at the bargaining table, the FOP contends. 
 
 Body camera pay would come in addition to any raise officers would get. 
 
 Two complaints have been made to the state employment relations board over the raises, one made by Councilman Wendell Young against Cranley the other filed by Black against the police union. 
 
 City leaders have worked for more than a year to put body cameras on all patrol officers, calling them best practice. There's been countless meetings inside city hall and the in the community. 
 
 Last week officers at The Banks downtown began wearing cameras. The city bought 700 cameras, signing a seven-year agreement with TASER to support the equipment. Over that time, the equipment could cost taxpayers up to $6 million. By the end of this year 700 officers are expected to be wearing cameras. 
 
 Experts say body cameras offer officers added protection because they're proof in situations where they are alone with suspects. But Hils said not many officers want to be monitored and while cameras may show some of what happened, they typically don't show everything an officer is seeing and reacting to. 
 
 "It's more stress," Hils said. "They brought us in for a couple of meetings about procedure. We offered feedback. Less than 25 percent we offered was included." 
 
 Lodge #69 executive committee members directed the letter be written. 
 
 We’re putting the city on notice, saying, 'Hey, you forgot something,' " Hils said. 
 
 Councilman Christopher Smitherman, chairman of Council's Law and Public Safety Committee, said body cameras are meant to protect the officers. 
 
 "This is to support our officers at a time when transparency and more information is better," Smitherman said. "Tying compensation to public safety and tying it to body cameras specifically is a bad idea." 
 
 Smitherman said it's not an accident the letter comes now in the midst of the raise battle. 
 
 "This is ratcheting this up to next level," Smitherman said. "I hope calmer heads prevail." 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://cin.ci/2bv9p0B ||||| The Denver police union has filed a lawsuit against the police department over its new body camera program, saying it was illegally developed because the administration ignored collective bargaining rules. 
 
 The Denver Police Protective Association said in a news release it does not oppose officers wearing body cameras. But the union said the policy that was put in place in September is ill-conceived, and the union’s lawsuit questions multiple aspects of the program, including how it will affect officers’ workloads when wearing them on off-duty security jobs. 
 
 “An ill-conceived body camera program breeds distrust amongst community members and the officers expected to operate this important policing tool,” the news release said. “Unfortunately, an ill-conceived body camera program is exactly what we face in the City of Denver.” 
 
 The department plans to deploy the first cameras to officers later this month, Chief Robert White said Monday at the city’s annual public-safety luncheon. 
 
 Officers in District 6, which covers downtown, and the gang unit will be among the first to wear them. 
 
 The department has been forming its plan for body cameras since District 6 officers participated in a pilot program in 2014. The policy continues to evolve as the public weighs in with its expectations for officers who wear them. 
 
 This fall, White announced that he was working on a plan for officers to wear the cameras while working off-duty assignments, something that had been recommended by Nick Mitchell, Denver’s independent monitor. 
 
 In off-duty assignments, officers are paid by private organizations to work security but they wear their uniforms, use department-issued equipment and are bound by department regulations. 
 
 In its lawsuit, the union questioned a proposal for officers to upload footage from their homes after completing an off-duty assignment. That plan could impact chain-of-custody requirements for evidence in crimes and it could affect labor laws. 
 
 The union in July demanded that the administration bargain over the cameras’ use, and the demand was denied in October, the lawsuit said. 
 
 Nick Rogers, president of the union, which represents 1,310 officers, said the city charter specifies that matters of personal safety and health equipment for officers are mandatory bargaining points. The cameras fall under those categories, Rogers said. 
 
 “I am the bargaining agent for the Denver Police Department and they did not contact me,” he said. 
 
 The police union’s lawsuit, filed in Denver District Court, also expressed concern over other aspects of the department’s new policy, including protecting people’s privacy; using the cameras around confidential informants; vagueness on where the cameras should be mounted; and vagueness over when an officer is allowed to use discretion in turning the cameras off. 
 
 Deputy Police Chief Matt Murray on Wednesday said the department could not comment on specifics of the lawsuit, but it will move forward with its plans to begin deploying the cameras to officers in the field. 
 
 “What we’re going to say is we understand the PPA has a position and they have every right to litigate that position through the courts and that’s the choice they are making,” Murray said. 
 
 The department also involved officers as well as the general public in testing cameras and developing the policy, Murray said. 
 
 “We’ve really tried hard for everybody to have an opportunity to express their opinion about the policy,” he said. 
 
 Denver will be one of the first large metropolitan departments in the country to field body cameras. The city signed a $6.1 million, five-year contract with Taser International to provide the cameras and store data. 
 
 Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or @Noelle_Phillips ||||| CINCINNATI A former University of Cincinnati police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black man he had stopped for a missing license plate was released from jail on bond hours after an initial court appearance on Thursday. 
 
 Ray Tensing, 25, had pleaded not guilty in the death of 43-year-old Samuel DuBose before Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Megan Shanahan, who set his bond at $1 million. 
 
 Tensing was released from jail later on Thursday, according to the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts. His next court date was set for Aug. 19. 
 
 Tensing was indicted on Wednesday on murder and voluntary manslaughter charges in the July 19 death of Samuel DuBose, who was shot in the head during a traffic stop. Tensing, who turned himself in and spent the night in jail in isolation, appeared in court in gray, striped prison clothes. 
 
 The incident was the latest in a series of fatal police confrontations in the United States that have raised questions about law enforcement's use of force against minorities. 
 
 In announcing the indictment on Wednesday, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters said Tensing was not dragged by DuBose's car as the officer had claimed to justify the shooting. 
 
 Two other University of Cincinnati officers, Phillip Kidd and David Lindenschmidt, were placed on administrative leave on Thursday, according to Lonnie Soury, a spokesman for the school. 
 
 Deters' office on Thursday released videos from body cameras worn by two university police officers who witnessed the shooting. The videos show the immediate aftermath of the shooting. 
 
 On the video from the body camera worn by Kidd, Tensing's fellow officer, Tensing repeatedly says he was dragged by DuBose's car and that he got his arm stuck in the car. Kidd is heard saying, "Yeah, I saw that." 
 
 A few minutes later, an officer from Cincinnati's city police force asks Kidd whether he saw Tensing being dragged, and Kidd responds, "Yes." In the official incident report on DuBose's shooting, officer Kidd was quoted as saying he saw Tensing being dragged. 
 
 Kidd could not immediately be reached and it was not known whether he has legal representation. The Fraternal Order of Police in Cincinnati did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the content of the videos. 
 
 The University of Cincinnati police report said it is unclear how much Lindenschmidt witnessed. 
 
 Tensing's body-camera video was released on Wednesday and showed the traffic stop and the shooting. After failing to provide a driver's license at Tensing's request, DuBose tried to prevent Tensing from opening the car door as the officer ordered him to remove his seat belt. 
 
 The car started slowly rolling forward as Tensing reached in and yelled for him to stop. The officer pulled his gun and fired once, killing DuBose. 
 
 Tensing was fired by university police on Wednesday. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. 
 
 His attorney, Stew Mathews, told reporters Tensing had feared for his life during the altercation with DuBose, so he drew his weapon. 
 
 "He's feeling like he's been run over by a train," Mathews said. 
 
 Terina Allen, the victim's sister, said the video evidence from Tensing proved that DuBose was a peaceful man. 
 
 "Sam would have never did to that police officer what that police officer did to Sam," Allen said. 
 
 (Additional reporting by Fiona Ortiz and Mary Wisniewski in Chicago; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Lisa Shumaker)
– Cincinnati cops are fighting a move by city officials to outfit them with body cameras—unless their salaries change, that is. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that some city cops began wearing cameras last week, and the police union reacted by saying it and the city need to sit down at the bargaining table; the union argues the cameras shouldn't be worn until that happens and sent the city a "cease and desist" letter to that effect. A union lawyer argued in the letter written last week that a body-camera mandate "will change several aspects of their job and regularly assigned duties." But City Manager Harry Black on Monday said he has the right to order cops to wear them and said their presence protects cops "from frivolous and fraudulent claims." Cameras are a flashpoint in the city, which WLWT reports has seen three fatal shootings this year involving police and where a white cop last year shot an unarmed black motorist after a traffic stop. University of Cincinnati Police Officer Raymond Tensing said he had no choice but to open fire after Sam DuBose, 43, tried to run him over and dragged him with his car. A body cam video of the incident revealed that story to be a lie, prosecutors said. But lawyers for Tensing insist it backs up the officer’s version. He'll stand trial in October. The push to outfit all of the city's cops with cameras has been a year-long effort. Some 700 cameras have been purchased as part of a seven-year contract. In Denver, the police union also has qualms with how the body camera program has taken shape, the Denver Post reports.