SFPD to expand its use of body cameras
Devices will be distributed by month’s end to record interactions with public
The Santa Fe Police Department announced Friday that by the end of the month, officers on patrol duty and at DWI checkpoints, officers on bicycle patrols and even animal control officers will begin using body cameras to record their interactions with the public.
Department spokesman Greg Gurulé said in a news release that the “recording equipment will be a valuable law enforcement tool to aid in the prosecution of criminal cases, to enhance the accuracy of officers’ reports and testimony in court” and will “help build community trust in the department’s officers.”
The announcement follows an initiative that began in 2014 under former police chief Eric Garcia, who had officers test various models of body-worn video cameras and pushed for a broader pilot program. The City Council in
October 2015 approved the purchase of 90 cameras for about $42,000 so the department, then under the leadership of interim Chief Patrick Gallagher, could widen its use of such cameras during a trial period.
The department’s efforts to increase the use of officerworn recording devices is part of a nationwide trend.
Officers across the U.S. have argued that body camera recordings will protect them from accusations that they are abusing their power. Activists say such videos can hold officers accountable and make them think twice before they fire a weapon.
Videos of high-profile fatal shootings of suspects by police officers — those captured by bystanders’ cellphones as well recordings from the officers’ own cameras — have sparked outrage and calls for reform. Footage of Albuquerque police killing 38-year-old James Boyd at the homeless man’s illegal campsite in the Sandia foothills in 2014 ignited protests in that city, plagued at the time by a high rate of officer shootings.
Reports of fatal police shootings seem to be daily occurrences. This week, the death of a black man by officers in Milwaukee sparked two nights of violence in the city. A Phoenix man was killed by police early Friday morning. According to reports, he was fighting to get an officer’s weapon. A Texas man was killed late Thursday or early Friday morning by New Mexico State Police officers in Ruidoso. He reportedly was armed with a rifle and threatening people in a residence.
Gurulé said in the news release that Santa Fe officers’ body cameras “will only be activated in conjunction with law-enforcement duties including traffic stops, investigative detentions, arrests, searches, pursuits and interrogations.”
As officers are equipped with the technology, he added, supervisors will train them how to use the cameras and teach them about the department’s policies and procedures regarding the devices and recordings.
The cameras were purchased with grant funding, he said, “and will enhance our existing system for recording and keeping track of cases our Officers are involved in. That compatibility with our current system means additional money savings to the community since the Santa Fe Police Department will not have to build or buy new infrastructure to manage” the cameras.
Gurulé did not respond to The New Mexican’s request for comment on how many cameras were purchased, the cost of the cameras or how much taxpayer money was used for the program.
Deputies with the Santa Fe County Sheriff ’s Office have been using lapel cameras for the past four years. The agency has said deputies are instructed to activate their cameras whenever they interact with the public and that the cameras are intended to help them write more accurate reports.