Police to start using body cameras

Devices will record all contact with civilians, including vehicle stops, staring next month

KENNETT TOWNSHIP » Starting next month, police in Kennett Township will utilize body cameras that will record all contact with civilians, including vehicle stops.

Supervisors earlier this year approved the purchase of seven body cameras for the seven fulltime police officers, at a cost of $1,000 each. A 45-day pilot program on use of the body cameras ends later this month.

“This will enhance the integrity and the interaction on both sides,” said Lydell Nolt, Kennett Township police chief. “We will not have everything documented. This is great for the public.”

Kennett Township becomes one of just a handful of municipal police departments in Chester County to utilize body cameras. Uwchlan, West Vincent and Upper Uwchlan townships, as well as Coatesville, recently began using them.

The body cameras record 720p HD video and CD quality audio, and the lens can tilt up or down 28 degrees. The lens records at a 130-degree wide angle field of view, which produces a fish-eyelike effect in the video but captures a wide range of the scene.

Kennett Ptl. Adam Cramer has been using a body camera for the past month, and of all the interactions he has had with the public, only two people have noticed he was wearing one.

“I see this as a tool,” Cramer

said.”

It enhances our ability to accurately document evidence. It’s been positive so far, and I have got a lot of good feedback.”

Police will let civilians know up front they are being recorded. The video evidence can be used by officers before filling out a police report, and can be used as evidence in a court of law.

“The encounters with the public should go much better,” Nolt said. “There will be no areas disputable, like the officer’s word against the public’s word.”

Police officers face obstacles face when using body cameras in Pennsylvania, because Pennsylvania has one of the strictest wiretap laws in the country. Officers are prohibited from recording anywhere an individual has a heightened expectation of privacy, including residences, apartments and hotel rooms.

The camera can be turned on and off with the simple push of a button, and the video clips can be categorized for different incidents, such as a traffic stop, a pedestrian stop or an assault.

All Kennett Township police officers will be trained in the use of body cameras by the end of December, and they will be required to use a body camera with each shift, provided a body camera is available that shift, and policy mandates that the officer must activate the body camera when interacting with the public.

Some studies have found body cameras significantly reduce the number of complaints against police and incidents of police use of force. For example, a 2014 U.S. Department of Justice report cited two studies. One found the Rialto, California, police department had a 60 percent reduction in officers using force and an 88 percent reduction in complaints against police. The other found 75 percent fewer use of force complaints against police in Mesa, Arizona.

Township supervisors will officially unveil the body cameras to the public at their Jan. 2, 2018 public meeting.

FRAN MAYE – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Kennett Township Ptl. Adam Cramer displays a body camera that will be worn by all officers beginning in January.

FRAN MAYE – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA The body camera that will be worn by Kennett Township police officers is attached at the tie, and will be worn by officers at all times while on duty.