The Salem Police force has joined the growing movement of law enforcement agencies that are now wearing body cameras to record their professional actions while on duty. “We initially looked into the issue of body cameras back some time ago,” says Police Chief Keith Steelman. “But the recent events in Ferguson led us to look a bit harder.”
Across the nation, law enforcement agencies have been adopting this technology in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting. Although initially a subject of controversy, a consensus has arisen amongst many police and sheriff departments that body cameras are good for both the safety of officers and the general public.
“The opinion of the officers was a bit apprehensive at first,” says Steelman. “But after a short time they liked them.”
Locally, the driving force behind the camera’s adoption is their potential to build effective criminal cases.
“It gives us more evidence,” says Steelman. “You can have an officer explain events to a judge or a jury, and not to say they wouldn’t do a good job, but by being able to put a DVD in and play the recording we can bring events to life.”
Dent County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Curley agrees, “I am a strong advocate for body cameras. The cameras provide a description of the crime scene, content and context for witness and defendant interviews. The cameras will also provide the judge and jurors an opportunity to observe nonverbal gestures made during the investigation that are otherwise difficult to describe in words.”
Going forward, recordings will be made of all active police work done by Salem officers. This means that if you call the police, or are stopped for any reason, you will be on camera. Personal interactions, however, such as friendly conversations will not be recorded.
The sheriff’s department also wants to adopt the use of the cameras but it waiting to obtain a grant before fully implementing the technology.
“We’d love to have them,” says Dent County Sheriff Rick Stallings. “We are testing one camera now on a trial basis. … No matter what, we’ll figure out a way to get them.”
The Police Department has a total of 13 cameras. It was able to purchase these cameras through a mix of funding from the City of Salem and the County Law Enforcement Restitution Fund. The cameras can record up to four and a half hours at a time and will be daily downloaded by the officers. On Tuesday, Jan. 20, the Alderman approved a new policy for storing footage. Police footage will be stored for a standard of 30 days, but in cases where there is a significant concern, a report will be filed and that footage will not be destroyed. Members of the public can make a sunshine request to obtain a copy of recorded interactions they have with the police. However, footage from active investigations will not be accessible and requestors will have to pay for the cost of producing a DVD.
Steelman would like the public to know that the new body camera policy is sound, strong, and based on standards that have been developed by a number of law enforcement agencies. Citizens with privacy concern will have to get used to the new cameras, but will not have to fear the police according to Steelman. “We are not big brother,” he says. “We serve the public, we just want to properly account for our side of the story.”
