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Body Cams have been on the list of needed items at Globe Police Department for years and even the officers of the department have been requesting them, but with a limited budget, items are prioritized.
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Body Cams have been on the list of needed items at Globe Police Department for years and even the officers of the department have been requesting them, but with a limited budget, items are prioritized.
With the increased civil unrest and concerns across the country, body cams are now on the City Council’s agenda.
With help from Globe City Manager, Paul Jepson, and the city finance department, they were able to find the funds to put this into motion. GPD will be working with Axon) who has a great rapport for working with smaller agencies. This will be a long term commitment for not only GPD but the city of Globe. Axon comes with a full support system from the devices that will be used, the training for officers, software for redaction, and storage capabilities.
Currently there is no video equipment in the police department so all the officers will be trained with the equipment and on the policies.
The learning curve with this new policy will be to get the officers to make a habit of turning on the device when they are going to interact with the public.
Chief Walters said that there hasn’t been any negative feedback or comments internally on the implementing of cameras.
There will need to be rules governing how the evidence is stored and viewed. The viewing of the video will need to be case specific.
GPD did look at other companies and the products they had to offer, but Axon had the overall package and the evidence.com storage is a great product that Superior Courts can access.
Each sworn personnel except for the admin, will be issued their own camera. There will also be a backup camera on hand for the officers if theirs is damaged. Theses cameras are battery operated and there will be charging stations available. These cameras are able to back up 30 seconds from when the officer clicks the camera on. The camera will be outfitted to hook onto their outer vest carrier. In past experience, having the camera creates a level of professionalism not only from the officers, but also the citizens.
To ensure compliance, random audits will be performed to make sure the cameras are being utilized to their full potential. This will also help with the learning curve of turning on the camera with each public interaction.
