Police Chief talks body cameras
Body worn cameras are a trend popping up in many communities as issues of officer and suspect relations are called into question.
Pittsburg Police Department Chief Richard Penn spoke to Pittsburg City Council Thursday, July 30 about the use of body cameras. He said he has researched the cost of the cameras and believes the PPD could be outfitted for around $3,000, though estimates from some retailers go as high as $20,000.
Mr. Penn said his department receives few complaints and averages two written complaints per year. The PPD record speaks for itself, he said, but body cameras are not without their merits. Research has shown that use of force incidents do drop when officers use recording devices and PPD is already equipped with vehicles that use in-car audio and video recording devices.
The benefit to a body worn camera is to have interactions with the public taped from an officer’s perspective. In 2013, the Police Executive Research Forum with support from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services conducted research on the use of body worn cameras and published the report, “Implementing a Body Worn Camera Program.”
In the report, Chuck Wexler, PERF Executive Director said departments that are using the body worn cameras report improved officer conduct as well as improved community conduct.
“This is an important advance in policing. And when officers or members of the public break the law or behave badly, body-worn cameras can create a public record that allows the entire community to see what really happened,” Mr. Wexler said in the report. “At the same time, the fact that both the public and the police increasingly feel the need to videotape every interaction can be seen both as a reflection of the times and as an unfortunate commentary on the state of police-community relationships in some jurisdictions.”
Sites such as Youtube and Facebook have made it possible for anyone with a video camera, most of which are on phones now, to upload videos of police interactions. Seeing things from an officer’s perspective could cast these interactions in a new light.
“You’re going to see exactly what officers deal with on a day-to-day basis,” Mr. Penn said. “That’s one of the things body cameras do. They do give more transparency and more accountability within a department. However, one of the caveats is transparency is transparency.”
Pittsburg City Council would have to draft the policy that states how the cameras would be worn, when they would be turned on and off to record and how long the audio/video was stored.
“Policy that dictates limited use of these cameras doesn’t make you very transparent,” Mr. Penn said. “If you’re going to use it for transparency then it has to be on all the time.”
By Tori Lyle, news@campcountynow.com -- To continue reading this article, purchase the print edition of The Pittsburg Gazette or go to our online e-edition at:http://www.etypeservices.com/
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