NEWS

Body cameras to be tested at 3 PDs

Matt Koesters, and Kelly McBride

Will police body cameras violate the privacy rights of citizens? Will they provide an accurate account of interactions between officers and the public? Will they increase or decrease the level of trust the public has in the police?

Those are questions police departments in St. Bernard, Woodlawn and Wyoming hope to find out soon by implementing pilot programs to test body-worn cameras.

The three departments have partnered to apply for grant funding through the Department of Justice Body Work Camera Pilot Implementation Program. Sixteen grants will be awarded to police departments with 250 or fewer police officers. Each grant could be worth up to $250,000, with a maximum of $2 million overall awarded to the 16 winning applicants.

The grant application, filed by the Woodlawn Police Department on behalf of the three Hamilton County municipalities, requests $37,473. The local agencies would pledge that same amount toward the purchase of a minimum of 25 cameras. St. Bernard Police Chief Steve Moeller said he expects the awards to be announced this fall.

The three municipalities include a diverse mix of residential, commercial and light-industrial business. Woodlawn Police Chief Jeffrey Witte said he believes that makes for a strong case for approval.

The pilot program would give the departments the opportunity to test different technological options, develop policies for body-worn camera usage by officers, and determine what and how information should be withheld from the public when video footage is requested via the Ohio Sunshine Law. For example, an officer’s interview of the underage victim of a sex crime would be problematic if the footage was the target of an open records request.

The police agencies considering body cameras will solicit input from local prosecutors, public defenders and civil-liberties attorneys to determine where the program would present problems from the standpoint of citizen privacy, Moeller said.

“It’s technology that we’re interested in, but I think we’re going to be walking through this very gingerly because we don’t want to be the test case of being sued because we’re putting out information that wasn’t supposed to be put out,” he said.

The advantages of body cameras include evidence collection, protection from false allegations against officers, faster resolution for complaint investigations and improved community relations, Wyoming Police Chief Gary Baldauf said.

“BWCs are not going to answer all of the questions or solve all of the issues in improving police-community relations.” Baldauf said. “But I do see this technology contributing to our department’s transparency in the way we operate, which will continue to enhance the trust our community has in our police department and in our officers.”

The Colerain Township Police Department has been testing body cameras for more than a year, and rolled out a limited camera program Monday. Colerain Police Chief Mark Denney’s officers only have five cameras out in the field now, but he’d like to have a full complement of 50 in the near future. The cameras protect his officers more than they hurt, he said.

“We work for the people, and they have a right to see what we do on a day-to-day basis,” Denney said.

Colerain Township uses Digital Ally cameras, which cost about $900 apiece. The data from the cameras are physically downloaded onto a computer at headquarters at the end of each officer’s shift. Footage from the cameras is retained for 30 days unless the footage is needed for evidence or requested by a member of the public. Colerain is testing another camera system that would cost about $500 per unit.

Colerain Township’s camera policy allows officers to deactivate their cameras in sensitive situations, particularly when dealing with crime victims. Footage requested by the public is reviewed before release, and the technology is capable of pixelating faces of victims and deleting audio that contains personal data.

Denney advised his peers at the police departments considering body camera programs to focus on training and alleviate fears “that this is an attempt to catch officers doing something wrong.”

“The main thing is training your guys, training the people and having a solid policy that’s easy to understand,” Denney said.