Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Tampa Police Select Vendor for Purchase of Body Camera's... Dec. 31, 2014.. By Dan Sullivan, Times Writer

Tampa police select vendor for purchase of body cameras

TAMPA — The cameras weigh less than a typical police officer's badge. At the touch of a button, they can record for 12 hours straight. Soon, 60 officers will wear them on patrol in Tampa.
The Tampa Police Department has agreed to a five-year contract with Taser International for the purchase of 60 body-worn cameras. After reviewing bids from five companies, the department selected a proposal from Taser for an initial sum of about $83,000. The cost also includes the purchase of a digital evidence storage system to maintain video recordings.
Over five years, the city will pay $287,220 for the purchase and maintenance of the cameras and the video storage system. The purchase is scheduled to be reviewed by the City Council on Jan. 8. Police plan to begin outfitting officers with the cameras in February.
"I'm pretty sure they would like to get this up and running as soon as possible," said Gregory Spearman, the city's purchasing director.
Four other companies submitted bids for the contract in December. They were Mediasolv Solutions Corp., Digital Ally Inc., L3 Communications and Reveal Media.
Each proposal detailed costs for the purchase of both the initial 60 cameras and the projected amount to outfit all 750 officers who patrol the city. Taser's proposal was the most expensive.
Best known as the developer of the electroshock gun commonly used by law enforcement, Taser International has in recent years emerged as a leader in the market for body cameras.
The Arizona-based company touts the sale of more than 18,000 cameras to law enforcement agencies nationwide. Their customers have included police departments in Fort Worth, Texas; Albuquerque, N.M.; New Orleans; and Las Vegas.
They also provided cameras to the Rialto Police Department in California. A yearlong study in 2012 showed formal complaints against that department's officers fell 88 percent after the cameras were introduced. The department also saw a more than 50 percent reduction in use of force by officers, the study found.
In Tampa, officers will wear Taser's Axon Flex cameras, a tiny, durable model easily mounted to any part of an officer's uniform.
Officers will be unable to edit or delete videos, which will be marked with an unalterable time stamp. Once purchased, 20 cameras each will be distributed to Tampa's three police districts. Taser representatives will train officers on how to use them.
Questions remain about how the department will regulate camera use. It is unclear when officers will be required to turn them on, how long video recordings will be retained and whether recordings might be restricted on private property.
The department is drafting a standard operating procedure governing the use of the cameras, said spokeswoman Andrea Davis. The goal is to eventually have all of the city's 750 patrol officers wearing them.
"We already have many officers who are requesting the cameras," Davis said. "This is a pilot program. We're seeing how these 60 work and we'll make a plan after that."
Contact Dan Sullivan at dsullivan@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3386. Follow @TimesDan.
Tampa police select vendor for purchase of body cameras 12/31/14 [Last modified: Wednesday, December 31, 2014 7:59pm] 

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Study Finds Body Cameras Do Protect Both the Public and Police.. Dec. 30, 2014 By Amy Eddings...

police-body-camera

STUDY FINDS BODY CAMERAS DO PROTECT BOTH THE PUBLIC AND POLICE

A new study from the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology showed that having police officers wear body cameras not only protects the public, but the police officers themselves,TakePart reported.
The study involved examining the Rialto, California Police Department’s body camera use over the course of a year. Results found incidents using force by police dropped by 59 percent, while reports against officers fell 87 percent when compared to the previous year.
“An officer is obliged to issue a warning from the start that an encounter is being filmed,” wrote co-author of the study Barak Ariel, “impacting the psyche of all involved by conveying a straightforward, pragmatic message: We are all being videotaped and expected to follow the rules.”
Results from the study, the first of its kind, had been reported as early as summer 2013, “making the city of Rialto a poster child for the use of the new technology,” TakePart pointed out. But the researchers said their results are just the first step in finding out just how effective the body cameras actually are.
“Rialto is but one experiment; before this policy is considered more widely, police forces, governments and researchers should invest further time and effort in replicating these findings,” said Cambridge’s Alex Sutherland in a statement.
Regarding the death of Eric Garner, who was choked to death by a New York City police officer this summer, Ariel said things could have played out much differently if all parties had known they were being filmed.
“The ‘preventative treatment’ of body-worn video is the combination of the camera plus both the warning and cognition of the fact that the encounter is being filmed,” said Ariel. “In the tragic case of Eric Garner, police weren’t aware of the camera and didn’t’ tell the suspect that he, and therefore they, were being filmed.”
The researchers will be replicating their body-camera experiment with 30 different police departments and hope to have new data to announce next year. Hopefully similar studies will produce similar results. After the numerous unfortunate events of the past summer (and throughout the past), increasing the safety of both the police and the public during encounters between the two groups is of the utmost importance.