Tarrant County sheriff鈥檚 deputies don鈥檛 wear body cameras, meaning there is no footage of the fatal shooting of Christopher Loyo, the county says.
Loyo, 19, was killed in Haltom City on Jan. 31 while deputies were serving . That warrant allows the authorities to take someone into custody if they are a danger to themselves or others. According to the sheriff鈥檚 office, Christopher injured one officer with a blade, and deputies opened fire.
On Wednesday, Christopher鈥檚 brother, Jorge Loyo, spoke before Tarrant County commissioners and asked to see body camera footage of the shooting. He said he requested the mental health warrant to get his brother some help.
鈥淭his could all have been avoided by just a conversation,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e wasn't a threat to anybody.鈥�
四虎影院 submitted a public records request for the body camera footage, or any other recording, related to the incident. The sheriff鈥檚 records office responded Thursday that deputies do not wear body cameras and closed the request.
Sheriff鈥檚 office spokesperson Laurie Passman confirmed that sheriff鈥檚 deputies are not equipped with body cameras. Efforts to change that are underway, she said in an email.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very expensive, multi-million-dollar project," she said. "We would welcome a check to pay for that equipment and will be pursuing that during the next budget session. This would align us with many larger law enforcement agencies across the country and enhance transparency and accountability.鈥�
The Tarrant County Commissioners Court controls the sheriff鈥檚 budget, which they usually finalize in August and September. Last September, commissioners gave the sheriff鈥檚 office the OK to research its body camera options.
The office intends to equip all its officers with cameras, including those who work inside the Tarrant County Jail, according to Passman. The sheriff鈥檚 office is in charge of the jail.
The body camera request was included in a reform package following the death of Anthony Johnson Jr. in jail custody.
Johnson died in April 2024 after jailers pepper sprayed him, and one knelt on his back. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner鈥檚 Office ruled his death a homicide by asphyxiation, and two jailers have been indicted for murder.
It鈥檚 unusual for a large law enforcement agency like the Tarrant County Sheriff鈥檚 Office to not have cameras by now, University of South Carolina criminology department professor said.
"We would expect more than 90%, even as of a couple years ago, would have body cameras," he said.
Adams studies the use of body cameras. Widespread adoption , he said.
Outside pressure came from politicians and activists, who wanted video as a police transparency tool. During the Obama presidency, the federal government to help agencies adopt the technology.
Over time, general police attitudes towards body cams have shifted from negative to positive, Adams said, because the footage can validate police actions as well as expose wrongdoing.
鈥淚 think advocates and reformers and agencies themselves get frustrated with what's perceived as like, the slow pace of reform or change in policing,鈥� Adams said. 鈥淏ut with a little bit of time, we can look back just five or 10 years and see that there's been pretty massive changes around this issue in particular."
One reason a law enforcement agency might hesitate to adopt cameras is because of the significant cost, Adams said. Governments have to pay for the cameras themselves, and the technology to store the video.
In 2022, the Fort Worth City Council for police body cameras, license plate readers, tasers and other tech, in a contract with Axon, a major body camera supplier.
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org. You can follow Miranda on Twitter @MirandaRSuarez.
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