Three years after the police shooting of 20-year-old Sayed Faisal spurred the use of body cameras for police officers in Cambridge, questions about the use of the devices and broader issues with police policy still remain in the city.
A Cambridge police officer shot Faisal on Jan. 4, 2023, after responding to a 911 call from a neighbor. Officers followed Faisal into a backyard, where he approached them with a knife. Police fired a less-than-lethal “sponge” round to stop him, and then shot him when that failed. The officer who shot Faisal was not prosecuted and the use of force was found to be justified.
The incident was a flashpoint in Cambridge. It prompted discussions about how police respond to situations in the city, and what could be done to improve accountability. Yet, three years after Faisal’s death, community activists like Fatema Ahmad with the Muslim Justice League said those wounds still feel fresh.
“The real problem is that we sent the police ... to chase after a young man who is in a mental health episode, and they killed him,” she said.
In response to the public outcry, Cambridge police started using body cameras last year, though there are still lingering questions about how they’re used.
At a Cambridge City Council meeting last month, councilors questioned the delayed release of body camera footage from two August incidents: one in which police confronted a man wielding knives, and another from a protest in Harvard Square. The council had previously pushed to make body cam footage available within 30 days of an incident.
“Respectfully, these body-worn cameras [were] a huge investment that was made. And it was an investment that’s also there to protect, when situations do arise, but also to be able to tell the narrative, tell the story and just to rest assured with the community that obviously police are doing their job with policing,” then-councilor Ayesha Wilson said at the Dec. 15 meeting.
Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine Elow said the department is interested in getting footage out, but there are aspects that slow down the process.
“We have to work with our district attorney’s office, we have to abide by the law, and we’re trying to do everything we can to paint a picture for our community,” she said at the meeting.
But even if there weren’t issues with how long it’s taken for Cambridge police to share footage, community activists like Ahmad say body cameras won’t stop police from using lethal force.
“So I know that for a lot of people in response to something like this the first thought is, 'Well, if we had footage, surely that would make a difference.’ But statistically, it hasn’t,” she said.
Now, with a new City Council seated in Cambridge, Ahmad is hoping that councilors will focus on measures like using unarmed responders and reducing the number of weapons Cambridge Police have. The use of alternatives to armed police is something activists had pushed for and the city has attempted to implement to sometimes mixed results.
“So I would hope that the City Council would look back at that, really engage the community and think about how can we respond differently to mental health incidents and to protestors?” she said.
