The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
POLICE ASK FOR BODY CAMERAS
Official says camera serves as ‘third impartial eye’
WINSTED » The Winchester Police Department has budgeted to fit their officers with body cameras in the next fiscal year.
These cameras are becoming more and more common both state and nationwide. Most models, like Taser brand’s AXON Body, are a 3-by-2-inch camera that can mount on an officer’s shirt or belt to record video of his or her undertakings during active duty.
Sgt. Kevin Kinahan, who proposed the idea, is the Winchester department’s only sergeant and detective. He’s also the acting chief.
Kinahan has helmed the department since former chief Robert Scannell left in October. He was in charge of both putting together a budget and compiling the department’s capital requests. His proposed $3.3 million police budget includes this $3,000 line item for body cameras.
Kinahan said there are two goals with body cameras. First, it protects the public from officers who may be tempted to use excessive force. It can help weed out rogue officers, he said.
“Anything that happened in Ferguson, anything that happened in New York can happen right here in Winsted,” Kinahan said. “It can happen anywhere.”
But, the cameras also aid the officers. Wielding a body camera can help corroborate a story against a false complaint from a citizen. The camera is, Kinahan said, a “third impartial eye.”
“It is a huge change in law enforcement now,” he said. “There’s no reason why we wouldn’t want to be benefitting like everyone else.”
Arming some or all of the 17
Winchester officers with body cameras would be just the first step. The department would also have to create a policy as to when officers use the cameras, how long video is kept before being deleted and how the recorded video is stored. The department currently uses an antiquated computer system that runs Windows 7, which is no longer supported by Microsoft, Kinahan said.
Already, the department is dealing with lost files and the inability to run newer programs.
“That creates a lot of problems for the officer,” Kinahan said. “It’s a lot of wasted time and effort.”
Kinahan has asked for an upgraded computer system in the capital requests he submitted to Town Manager Dale Martin. It is highly unlikely that the current system could support the hours and hours of video data that body cameras would create, he said.
Departments who use body cameras have two options when it comes to storage. They can either do so on-site or store them through the body camera manufacturer, which utilizes cloud technology.
As for policy, it varies from department to department. Several of the department heads that spoke to The Register Citizen said they expect state or federal policy on body cameras in the near future, but right now, it is up to each individual department to create its own operating standards.
Winsted would be the fourth municipality in Litchfield County to implement body cameras. Woodbury’s eight officers have had body cameras for around eight months. The officers will turn the cameras on when they are about to engage in active duty, officials said. For instance, in a traffic stop, an officer will turn his camera on when he approaches the vehicle.
Woodbury uses gear from the company Taser, which stores the data in the cloud. The town purchased the cameras for roughly $600 each, officials there said.
The Plymouth Police Department is in the process of changing vendors and is looking to equip each of its 25 officers with body cameras. Currently, the department stores all video data on site. Sgt. Ken Colpa said deleting of the data occurs on “a case by case basis,” with things like routine accidents dumped long before domestic disputes or DUI’s.
Colpa said he is hoping to have enough cameras to cover both shifts, so one set of cameras can charge while the others are utilized by officers on active duty. Thus far, Colpa said, Plymouth officers haven’t taken issue with wearing the cameras.
“No problem,” he said. “More than most times, it’s a benefit because it just corroborates our stories out there.”
In Watertown, all 38 officers are required to wear body cameras while out in the field, according to the deputy chief.
“It’s just becoming a part of their uniform that they go out wearing,” Deputy Chief Robert Desena said. “It’s a tool of the job that protects [in the same way] a ballistic vest does. If I was out in the field, I’d wear one every day.”
Branford was ahead of the curve and has used body cameras since 2008.
“I think that initially there was a little skepticism,” Capt. Geoffrey Morgan said. “The officers use them now and they rely on them. In most cases, almost 99 percent of the cases that we have, they’ve reduced citizen complaints.”
Morgan called it a “huge positive experience.”
Kinahan’s pitch for body cameras is far from a sure thing. His proposed budget will be looked over and edited by the town manager as part of the overall operating budget. Martin will then submit his version of the budget to the Board of Selectmen before a final draft of the 2015-16 fiscal plan goes before Winsted’s voters in May.