Police in Minneapolis must now activate their body cameras during every call for service or any self-initiated work, officials said on Wednesday, a change that comes amid a lingering controversy over an officer's fatal shooting of an unarmed Australian woman there earlier this month.

An officer fatally shot Justine Damond, a 40-year-old woman who had called 911 to report a possible sexual assault near her home, on July 15. For reasons that still remain unknown, one of the two police officers responding to Damond's call shot and killed her, and neither officer present activated their body cameras.

Since her death, which sparked international outrage and prompted the ouster of the city's veteran police chief, more questions than answers have surrounded the shooting. Authorities have questioned why Officer Mohamed Noor drew and fired his gun, and have been critical of the lack of video footage.

Every patrol officer in Minneapolis is equipped with a body camera, and Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges called it "unacceptable" that no footage existed of the shooting. A day after making these remarks, Hodges forced out Janeé Harteau, the Minneapolis police chief, saying she had "lost confidence in the chief's ability to lead us further."

Ms Hodges, who has herself faced calls to resign since the shooting and is up for reelection, joined the new police chief, Medaria Arradondo, for a news conference Wednesday announcing the expansion of when body cameras would be utilised.

"What good is a camera if it is not being used when it may be needed the most?" Mr Arradondo said at the briefing. He added: "We are not passing judgment on a single officer nor are we looking at a single event."

While Mr Arradondo said the change in body-camera policy has "been in process for a few months now," the spectre of Ms Damond's death loomed over this shift. The changed policy will go into effect on Saturday, two weeks after Ms Damond's death.

Under the previous Minneapolis police policy, officers have been required to activate body-worn cameras before any use of force or, if that is not possible, "as soon as it is safe to do so." The new policy directs officers to activate their cameras before a wide range of actions, and no longer states that cameras must be activated before a use of force. Instead, it now states that the cameras must be activated for "any use of force situation."

"It has been my expectation that our body camera program work for our city and work for our people," Ms Hodges said at the news conference. "It was my expectation then and it remains my expectation today that the program actually does what we want, expect and need it to do."

Mystery has surrounded MsDamond's death for days, in part because no footage captured what happened leading up to the shooting. Officer Noor, who fired the fatal shot, has so far declined to be interviewed by state investigators, who say they cannot compel him to be interviewed.

According to police records, Ms Damond had twice called 911 the night of her death to report a possible sexual assault happening nearby. She first called to say she may have heard a rape happening, and then called eight minutes later to make sure officers had the right address.

What happened next is still not clear. The only account of the shooting that has been publicly released came from Officer Matthew Harrity, who was driving the squad car. Officer Harrity told investigators that he was startled by a loud sound moments before Ms Damond approached his side of the vehicle. Officer Noor, in the passenger seat, then fired a single shot at Ms Damond through Harrity's open window, investigators said.

Both officers then got out of the car to provide Ms Damond medical assistance, authorities said. The medical examiner said she was killed by a gunshot wound to her abdomen and classified her death as a homicide.

This week, adding another potential element to the shooting, Minnesota Public Radio reported that a court document described a woman approaching the back of the police car and slapping it. This document does not specifically say Ms Damond was the woman who slapped the car, nor does it state whether that noise is what Harrity heard.

According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), the state agency investigating the shooting, no weapons were found at the scene of the shooting. A cellphone was located near Ms Damond.

Washington Post