Body cams “imperative” after deputy involved shooting
By Brenda Erdahl
The March 2 shooting involving a Wright County Deputy inspired a lengthy discussion about the urgent need for body cameras at the Tuesday, March 5 County Board meeting.
The Sheriff’s Office has been working with a company called Oracle to outfit deputies with state-of-the-art body cameras, but to some commissioners the process is taking much too long.
“I have been pushing this for over a year. We have the money waiting. We’re 10 years behind our neighboring counties, it’s time to act,” Commissioner Jeanne Holland said.
“We cannot have deputies out there without body cams. It’s so imperative. I’ve always said, it’s not a matter of if it’s going to happen, it’s when. Our when happened on Saturday morning.”
In Saturday’s early morning incident, a Wright County Deputy fatally shot a motorist during a traffic stop in the City of St. Michael. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the driver and lone occupant exited the stopped vehicle with a weapon, confronted the deputy and refused to comply with the deputy’s commands. The confrontation resulted in the deputy discharging his firearm, striking the subject.
Wright County deputies immediately attempted life saving measures until paramedics arrived on scene and those measures were continued. Life saving measures were not successful, and the driver was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) recently identified the motorist as Jeffrey Lynn Chapman, 67, of Albertville. According to the BCA, Chapman was stopped by Deputy Austin Feenstra, but did not immediately pull over when Feenstra turned on the lights of his squad car. When he did pull over, Chapman got out of the vehicle holding a knife knife (BCA later identified a lead pipe instead of a knife). Among the few details released by the BCA, it was noted that Chapman had altered his license plate – changing a “C” in the plate number to appear to be an “O.” Ammunition and a pocketknife were found inside the vehicle when it was searched after the incident.
Feenstra has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard operating procedure in an officer-involved shooting.
Commissioner Holland called the incident “tragic” and “upsetting” and insisted this is why it is so imperative deputies wear body cams.
“If we let these deputies twist in the wind, we will lose them to other departments,” she said.