Nearly one month after the killing of Stephon Clark, the Sacramento Police Department has ordered its officers to keep the microphones of their body cameras on until an incident has concluded, according to The Sacramento Bee.

After the death of Clark, video footage shows police officers turning their microphones on mute for about six minutes. It still isn't clear what officers discussed during this time. Les Simmons, a pastor and social activist, viewed the body camera footage with Clark's family and said it frustrated all of them to find that the officers that killed Clark muted their mikes following the slaying.

“They all just muted their mikes. … It was a moment of, what are they doing? What are they saying?” Simmons said. 

On Wednesday, the police department sent out a memo to officers saying they cannot turn off their microphones unless they are discussing sensitive information such as sexual assault. The memo says cops, “shall not deactivate or mute their BWCs [body-worn cameras] until the investigative or enforcement activity involving a member of the public has concluded.” 

In the event that a case becomes sensitive enough to warrant muting, officers must also explicitly announce why they are turning off their mikes. 

The memo continued, “We will continue to work through the development, review and vetting of an updated BWC policy and hope to have that completed soon. However, the current policy requires some immediate clarification and additions that cannot wait until the review process is complete.”

Deputy Chief Ken Bernard said his department plans to continue its investigation into the effectiveness of other parts the department's body camera policy. The city council and members of the community also had an opportunity to weigh in on the cameras this week, and officials said the public will continue to be involved in shaping the new policy. 

"It's an opportunity for the council and the community to ask all the questions that need to be asked and for us, with the chief, to define a reasonable time frame going forward [to make changes]," Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. "This is an opportunity for real change, and we want to do it right."