Capitola City Council Approves Purchase of Body Cameras for Police

Capitola Police Chief Rudy Escalante told council members the department had obtained quotes from several companies, and that they had decided to choose products manufactured by Watchguard Digital Systems, which is, "rated number one around the country," he said. Escalante said they spoke to several other police agencies who were "very pleased" with the equipment.

The department is now authorized to purchase nine vehicle cameras, two motorcycle cameras, and 20 officer-worn body cameras. The body cameras will be operated when an officer presses a button, Escalante said, but that both the body-worn and the car-mounted cameras have a "record after the fact" feature, and that the audio and video the camera captures could be accessed by the department at a later date. When asked by a council member if the cameras could be viewed "live," Escalante said, "I don't think so."

Escalante told the council that individuals will be notified during police interactions before they are recorded, and that footage is for "internal use" only, unless there is a public information request. Public requests will only be granted in certain situations, he said.

Patrol vehicles will be equipped with cameras mounted on the front side-mirror in order to capture a 180 degree frontal view, as well as cameras (with audio) pointed towards the back seat area of the automobiles.

Escalante said the "benefits" of using the equipment were to, "enhance opportunities to capture evidence," "assist in patrolling anti-social behavior," "provide impartial and accurate evidence collection," and for, "greater insight into service delivery." He also quoted statistics from Rialto Police that purported to show use of force incidents went down by 60%, and officer complaints went down by 88% after that department began using body-worn cameras.

However, organizations such as the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) have criticized the incompleteness of the Rialto report, and for not telling the whole story about the effects of police wearing body cameras. The NLG cautions there are many unresolved legal and civil rights issues regarding the police use of Personal Digital Recording Devices (PDRDs).

"PDRD video is treated as evidence first and foremost," Rachel Lederman of the NLG wrote in 2014. "This means that regardless of whether the video has captured illegal activity, or is being used in an investigation, it is not accessible to the general public – at least not without an attorney and a federal lawsuit, and even then, it may be difficult and take months or years to obtain the complete videos."

"If the cameras are to create greater police accountability, it is essential that the videos be made immediately accessible to the public – and that the public (including Copwatchers and NLG Legal Observers) continue our own independent documentation of law enforcement actions."


Alex Darocy
http://alexdarocy.blogspot.com/