Providence Police to begin using body cameras

October 4, 2017 11:28 pm

By John Krinjak

Email: jkrinjak@abc6.com

Twitter: @johnkrinjakABC6

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Providence is set to become one of the first police departments in the region to implement body cameras.

Last fall a small group of officers tested out the body cameras as part of a pilot program.

Now the full patrol bureau is undergoing a weeks-long training on how to use them properly.

Each patrol officer will have to wear the Axon-2 body camera on their chest, in plain sight.

"This will be a great tool investigatively for prosecution of cases. I believe it will be a great tool for officer safety. It certainly will be a great tool for transparency and trust within the community," said Providence Police Chief Col. Hugh Clements.

Steven Brown of the ACLU sees several issues with body cameras, if the rules governing their use aren’t clear–things like when the camera is turned on or not, protecting privacy of people who don’t want to be recorded, and any issue with police misconduct.

"Body cameras can be a great tool for police transparency and accountability, but ultimately the devil is in the details," said Brown.

Police officials say people who file complaints will have access to the footage, but as for the media, that will be on a case-by-case basis.

Also, whether the camera will be turned on depends on the type of call, but they say officers will err on the side of keeping it on.

Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare admits officers could forget.

"They’re expected to engage it and there’ll be a learning curve in the height of some serious calls that they go to that some people will legitimately forget. And if officers deliberately don’t engage it, then we’ll deal with them as well," said Pare.

The chief admits there has been some push back from the rank and file but others are supportive of adding body cameras.

Some cops will begin wearing them in November and December, with the full rollout the first of the year.