Some officers turned off body cameras after Las Vegas shooting

In four separate Las Vegas police videos from the night of the Oct. 1 shooting, officers are instructed to turn their body cameras off.

Records released Wednesday by the Metropolitan Police Department under court order included 28 body camera videos.

Most of the videos did not have time stamps, and they varied in length from less than 30 seconds to two hours.

Four videos show members of the same police strike team assembling near Mandalay Bay.

“Officers are waiting. They’re waiting,” says a male voice off screen. “Officers are waiting to get in there.”

In three videos, a female officer is visible walking down the staging rows. In the fourth she can only be heard.

“Cameras are off? Cameras off? Cameras are off?” she says.

An officer repeats “Camera is off,” and each video ends.

It is not clear when or why the cameras were activated. One video is 18 minutes long, one is 20 minutes, and two others are just over a minute each. It is also unclear why the officers were told to turn their cameras off.

A request for clarification of Metro’s body camera protocol was not answered.

The department’s body camera policy states that once the body-worn camera is activated, the recording should continue, unless there a reasonable exception.

Exceptions include if the event is “of a sensitive nature,” such as the sexual assault of a child; if the event has concluded prior to an officer’s arrival; or if an officer determines the recording must be stopped, “based on clearly articulable reasons.”

The department’s policy also states, “Officers must state the specific reason(s) they are turning off their cameras before doing so.”

Contact Madelyn Reese at 702-383-0497 or mreese@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MadelynGReese on Twitter.