Police Commission members this week agreed that equipping town police officers with body cameras is a good idea that should be implemented at the police department.

Body cameras are small portable cameras typically worn on a police officer’s chest that make video and audio recordings of the officer’s interactions with the public.

The use of body cameras is intended to promote police accountability in their interactions with the public. Recordings made by body cameras may be used to substantiate what occurred during a police/public interaction, serving as evidence, if necessary.

The state legislature recently passed two criminal justice bills, one of which covers the use of police body cameras. That bill requires that state police wear such body cameras and also offers financial incentives to municipalities to have members of their police departments use such devices.

At an August 4 Police Commission meeting, Police Chief Michael Kehoe termed the use of body cameras “a very important policy matter for us, and we want to do the right thing.”

“We’re looking at this very slowly and with caution,” said police Captain Joe Rios. Capt Rios is the second-in-command at the police department.

Capt Rios noted that town police already record their interactions with motorists via dashboard-mounted forward-aimed video cameras positioned within police vehicles.

Several police departments in the area are using body cameras for the sake of police accountability and to record “critical incidents,” he said.

Capt Rios noted there are some technical problems with body cameras. A body camera does not necessarily “see” what the eyes of a police officer see as a recording is being made, he said. Also, the lens on a body camera can be blocked, he said. Also, body camera recordings may pose some visual depth perception ambiguities, he said.

Capt Rios said the use of body cameras raises some privacy concerns in terms of  when the camera is running and when it is off.

Virtually all of the time, the recordings made by body cameras would support the actions of the police officers who wear body cameras, he said.

Town police would need to obtain between 45 and 55 body cameras, plus related equipment, he said.

State grant money will become available to aid municipal police departments obtain body cameras, he added.

Capt Rios advised that local police officials move slowly on equipping local police with body cameras and review how the use of such devices is implemented at other at other police departments.

Police Commission Sees An Advantage

Police Commission member Joel Faxon predicted that the use of body cameras by police in Connecticut would exonerate police in the vast majority of contested cases. Using body cameras would be much more of an advantage for police than a disadvantage, he said.

The Newtown Police Union has stated that it opposes the use of body cameras, noting that the conduct of town police is upstanding and does not warrant such surveillance measures. The union represents 43 of the 45 local police officers.

Having body cameras recording interactions between police and the public could be useful in places where the police have strained relations with minority groups, but there are no such problems in Newtown, according to the police union.

Mr Faxon said, “I wholeheartedly endorse the concept of body cameras.” In the long term, the use of such devices would aid police, he said.

Capt Rios said he favors the use of body cameras, provided that they are used properly.

Commission Chairman Paul Mangiafico endorsed body camera use by police.

“Many people ask me why our police don’t have body cameras,” he said.

Mr Mangiafico took a straw poll of commission members and found that member Brian Budd and member Andrew Sachs also favor body camera use by police. Member Virgil Procaccini, Jr, did not attend the August 4 meeting.

Chief Kehoe said that body camera use is a relatively new aspect of police work, adding that the quality of the cameras will improve across time and their costs will drop.

The state’s Police Officer Standards and Training Council in January is expected to publish a proposed policy for police departments concerning the use of body cameras, he said.

Police officials must now decide how best to acquire the body camera equipment needed by the town police department, Mr Mangiafico said.

--Modified at 8:30 am on August 7, 2015.--