Body cameras a possibility for local police departments

By: Kimberleigh Anderson and Melissa Puppo

More police departments could be purchasing body cameras after law enforcement agencies around the nation were awarded a recent U.S. Justice Department grant.

The Akron Police Department is one of two law enforcement agencies in Ohio who received the grant. They now join other northeastern Ohio departments who have body cameras, including Cleveland, Aurora and Twinsburg.

Akron was awarded $367,478 to purchase future equipment. More than $23 million in funding for body cameras were awarded to support law enforcement agencies in 32 states as part of its body-worn camera pilot plan — ‘a law enforcement strategy aimed at improving public safety, reducing crime, and improving public trust between police and the citizens they serve.’

“This grant brings us one step closer to putting this important technology on the street on a significant scale,” Mayor Jeff Fusco said in a press release.

Below is the Body- Worn Camera Pilot Implementation Program’s 2015 National Awards. Each department and city in the country who received the grant is listed below with their award amount.

The nation has dealt with recent events including the 2014 Ferguson, Missouri, death of 18 -year-old Michael Brown and the ongoing investigation when a police officer opened fire on the unarmed man. In 2013,  James Genda, 64, was killed during a traffic stop for pulling out a what seemed to be a handgun on a University of Akron police officer.

Officer Stephen Prough of the Akron Police Department said law enforcement agencies are looking into body cameras because of such recent events across the country and the demand for accountability and transparency due to those events.

Akron’s department has been testing body cameras since February.

“We knew that grants were going to be forthcoming based on all the media events and as the technology was growing, we continuously look for that technology,” Prough said.

After testing one of four cameras for 90 days at the department, he has bought one of his own to wear.

“I find it extremely useful in my profession,” Prough said. “ If someone wants to complain because they don’t like your decision, I have the video. I can say, ‘Here, Sergeant, take a look at the video, and you tell me if I was wrong in that situation.’”

The Akron PD has tested four different camera models from Taser, VieVu and Digitial Ally. They will have the chance to test another model from Wolf Com and one more brand before making its decision in November.

This grant poses the question of whether or not more agencies will soon look into this new technology.

Kent Police Chief Michelle Lee said there are a few factors as to why the Kent police department has yet to look into purchasing cameras.

“There’s not a compelling reason or a there’s not a compelling push for them either by the offices or our department or by the community,” Lee said. “Until we come across a compelling reason to even get them or for sure to say, ‘no, we’re not getting them,’ we’re kind of letting other departments sort of test the waters for us.”

Currently, the Kent department uses in-car cruiser cameras and is looking to install a new Panasonic system once software is available.

Factors such as public policy and privacy laws must be taken into consideration when a department decides to purchase body cameras, Lee said. Other issues involve contact with juveniles or personal information in people’s homes.

“Those are the issues we may have to get some clarification from a law director, see how other departments are doing and reach a policy,” Lee said.

When to turn on and off the cameras may become a problem with the new technology. Another importance is figuring out when footage from an incident involving a police officer and citizen would be deemed ‘public record.’

“It’s just cut down on those false complaints and false claims because when someone says, ‘that cop did this or that cop said this,’ they [the officer] usually knows that they did or didn’t, so it’s irrefutable when the video evidence is there,” she said.

If there was an officer who arrive at an incident, Lee feels there has to be a grace period put into place where the department isn’t going to release the body camera footage as public records because there could be an open investigation down the road.

[pullquote]“It’s just cut down on those false complaints and false claims because when someone says, ‘that cop did this or that cop said this,’ they [the officer] usually knows that they did or didn’t, so it’s irrefutable when the video evidence is there.” — Kent Police Chief Michelle Lee [/pullquote]

Akron’s police  department utilizes a retention schedule as not every video can be kept on file. If someone would like access to a video, that person must get permission from the law department.

“Unfortunately, though, a lot of times these videos that we’re using in incidents are evidence,” Prough said. “We don’t give out evidence to a crime until after a case has been disposed of and that can take time. Someone may become frustrated with that. We have to keep evidence in our possession until it’s done.”

Benefits of Police Cameras

While Kent’s department has not yet purchased body cameras, Lee feels there are positives.

Just as any other department, Kent gets their own share of officer initiated complaints, in which evidence is needed to review those situations. The cameras would allow the footage to go right to the heart of the matter.

Prough has seen the use of force and officer complaints go down in Akron’s streets.

Partnership with Kent State University

The Akron Police Department is currently working with Kent State to get valuable data on the benefits of body cameras and its possible impact on police complaints and crime statistics.

“We’re giving them [Kent State] the real data, for not only tracking that use of force and complaints, but we’re also looking at satisfaction of the cameras by the users — the one’s wearing it and the supervisors who have to deal with the backend technology to capture that data and save it,” Prough said.

How Do Body Cameras work?

TV2’s Kimberleigh Anderson has a closer look at Akron’s test body cameras and how they work.