Lowell to put cameras on officers

Clip-on recorders catch on in more police departments

Lowell plans to equip all of its street police officers with body cameras by the end of next month, while some other police departments in the state continue to discuss the idea.

Lowell Police Chief Randy Harvey said the cameras will help keep the public and officers safer.

"It not only reduces complaints against officers, but it helps us if we do have a complaint," Harvey said. "We can find out what happened."

The cameras are small and can be clipped to an officer's shirt or glasses, Harvey said.

The camera's data is automatically downloaded to a server when an officer plugs it in to charge.

The department will pay a $3,000 fee annually to a company for data storage.

"I had been thinking about it for a few years. After the situation in Ferguson, I decided to pursue it more," said Harvey, referring to the fatal shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., in August.

Police in the St. Louis suburb did not wear body cameras until after Brown's shooting, according to The Associated Press.

The death set off protests about the use of police force that have continued for months.

Many police departments across the state and country began considering body cameras after the Ferguson shooting, said Montie Sims, president of the Arkansas Association of Chiefs of Police.

About a month after Brown's shooting, the Jonesboro Police Department announced its officers would soon wear body cameras after the Craighead County city received a $12,000 U.S. Justice Department grant. Jacksonville, Ward, Beebe, Glenwood and Austin police are among agencies that have equipped certain officers with body cameras in recent years.

The Little Rock and North Little Rock departments have said they are researching equipping their officers with wearable cameras. The Washington County sheriff's office plans to have its deputies wearing body cameras by the end of the year. Bentonville and Fayetteville police are testing cameras.

Sims, also police chief in Dardanelle, said officers have been using body cameras for about two years.

"It is a very good, effective tool both for protection of the officer and protection of the public," Sims said. "We are humans and we make mistakes, and if that were to occur it would show that."

A 2013 study by the Police Foundation found the rate of use of force was reduced when the Rialto, Calif., Police Department used body cameras.

Complaints from the public about use of force also decreased from 28 to three during a 12-month period, the study showed.

Sims said body cameras support the officer's training and professionalism. In fact, it has showed that officers have handled situations correctly.

The cameras also have helped with investigations, he said.

Not every department is sold on the idea. Keith Foster, spokesman for the Rogers Police Department, said the department has decided not to pursue cameras.

The department has dashboard cameras in officers' vehicles, Foster said. Those cameras record incidents in public settings. But a body camera could record images in private settings such as homes.

"I think we really need courts and legislatures to work on the details before we would feel comfortable with them," Foster said.

Metro on 03/30/2015

Upcoming Events