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Officers place stock in cameras [Clinton Herald, Iowa]
[November 08, 2014]

Officers place stock in cameras [Clinton Herald, Iowa]


(Clinton Herald (IA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 08--CLINTON -- "Without video, it can be the officer's word against the suspect's word." This statement on the website of TASER International -- a company once known almost exclusively for electrical weapons, but which has expanded in to the rapidly growing market of mobile video recording devices -- sums up a popular belief nowadays that law enforcement agents should wear (and use) body cameras.



"It's not just the recent events," said Clinton Police Chief Brian Guy, such as the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown this summer in Ferguson, Missouri. "Law enforcement nationwide has been looking at doing these things for about the last 18 months to two years." And the Clinton area is no exception. In fact, over the last few years as some local officers have expressed an interest in purchasing body cameras at their own expense, they've been allowed to do so.

In addition to in-car video cameras that have been in place since 1993, today approximately 10 Clinton officers have body cameras, all of which were purchased out of their own pocket. Camanche was awarded two units through the Clinton County Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant, which also provided two cameras to the DeWitt Police Department and one to the Clinton County Sheriff's Office.


Each of these agencies is at a different stage in the process of implementing regular usage of body cameras in their departments. Obtaining the camera units "is the easy part," Guy said.

Each agency is working with the Clinton County Attorney's Office to address the issues related to the use of body cameras, which requires "living, breathing policies" certain to evolve over time as more experience is gained.

Clinton adopted a policy on the usage of mobile video recording last year, and Camanche has expanded its policy to cover body cameras in addition to the in-car devices.

One of the biggest challenges is setting up the infrastructure for data storage and retrieval. In Clinton County this is being examined collectively among the Information Technology department, the county attorney's office and the various area law enforcement agencies to put in place a consistent and cost-effective system.

Because the technology is relatively new, Clinton County Attorney Mike Wolf explained, there isn't a uniform protocol like with other practices. For example, there are standardized methods of collecting, recording and retrieving fingerprints that are commonly used. This standard does not yet exist for the usage of body cameras and the video data it creates, and guidance from state and national agencies is hard to come by.

Despite the challenges, Wolf is an advocate for the use of body cameras because the quality and character of the evidence is "superior." Compared to the in-car cameras, the body cameras produce a better quality sound and are more reliable, he said.

"The clearer the evidence the easier it is for the jury," Wolf said.

Nationwide the expectation is growing that law enforcement be outfitted with cameras.

"Juries seem to want more information in the form of video," Lincoln said. "There's a raised expectation that we, too, have this technology." In some cases, a lack of video evidence is interpreted as an indication of dishonesty on the part of the officer, a mentality that seems to be becoming more common as camera usage proliferates.

This trend has been seen in Iowa City, where the city council recently approved the purchase of body cameras for the department's 82 officers.

"The one negative that has been noted is some people in the public and the legal system no longer put as much stock in the word of the officer," said Capt. Jim Steffen of the Iowa City Police Department in an email. "If for some reason an incident isn't recorded those people tend to not believe the officer now." Overall, body cameras have so far proven useful locally in a number of applications, and prosecutors "see a difference in how cases are handled" because of the evidence they provide.

Evidence gathering is made more efficient, Wolf said, as well as the legal process itself when a defendant and their attorney can see that the video evidence of what took place is very clear.

For example, with incidents involving alcohol, a person "may not remember that they were intoxicated," he said, but with video they can see themselves, making it harder to dispute.

Cameras also have had positive implications for the handling of domestic abuse cases, in which a similar cycle is frequently seen. An injured or fearful victim who seeks the help of law enforcement when an incident is happening may later feel the need to protect his or her assailant by retracting their statements to police, or even providing false testimony.

When a camera has documented the conversations that took place at the time of the police call, victims may be less likely to change their story because their physical condition and state of mind can be seen on video.

In addition to providing valuable evidence in criminal matters, body cameras provide a level of protection to officers when accusations of misconduct arise and provide context for seeing the types of situations officers are faced with.

"Officers do make mistakes, they're human," Wolf said. "We want to make sure the public trusts the police department," and the cameras "protect the public, and protect the officers" if a complaint is filed against them.

"The camera gives me the ability to record at my view," said Cpl. Richard Foley of the Clinton Police Department who opted to purchase a body camera a little more than one year ago. "You get an idea of what I experience or what I see" during an incident.

Although Foley has not personally had the experience, he is aware of cases where a citizen "says the officer was disrespectful to me. Then when you watch the video, and you don't see that." "It may not mean they were lying, but maybe they were upset," he said, and that was their perspective at the time. The video record can allow "others to go back and view what actually took place." From Foley's experience, officers generally regard the use of body cameras as a good thing.

"I have yet to see an officer be against wearing the personal camera," he said. "They're more excited to get them than they are apprehensive." Clinton police have no specific timeline yet for rolling out the technology department-wide, but are working toward that goal.

After all the costs have been assessed, Guy said both the police department and the county attorney's office have asset forfeiture funds that may be used toward the purchase of the cameras. In addition there may be grants available for that purpose if needed, and some interest in donating money has been expressed by citizens.

"We would like to get them out as soon as possible," Guy said. "But we have to address the data storage and retrieval issues first, as well as the purchase of the units." ___ (c)2014 the Clinton Herald (Clinton, Iowa) Visit the Clinton Herald (Clinton, Iowa) at clintonherald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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