Sacramento Chief Asks City to Delay Mandated Release of Video from February Shootout

In the first test of a new policy requiring the release of video in officer-involved shootings, Sacramento police Tuesday will ask the City Council for permission to withhold footage from a February gunfight between three officers and a parolee.

Interim police Chief Brian Louie said Monday his request pertains to  a Feb. 10 incident  in which officers ended up in a street shootout with Armani Sicilian Lee, 28, that left North Sacramento residents scrambling for cover and Lee in critical condition. No officers were shot in the encounter.

The City Council in November passed police policy changes meant to increase transparency and accountability. They included a provision that video in critical incidents such as officer-involved shootings be made public within 30 days of the event, as long as the release “does not hamper, impede or taint” an ongoing investigation. The department must ask City Council for a waiver and explain its reasons if it doesn’t want to release footage.

Louie said the department plans to eventually release the footage but wants a waiver because the incident is still under investigation. Louie told the Sacramento Bee the department was “not ready yet” to let the public see the footage because “we still have work to do.”