Louisville Police Department recently received a piece of equipment that is vital in today's law enforcement world, body cams. According to Asst. Chief of Police, Ed Hunt, "With everything that's taking place lately with police and the public, if the public comes in with a complaint we want to have camera footage as backup." Hunt added that if a complainant says that an officer did something, the footage will show exactly what happened in the incident, so there are no questions. And the department does have a policy stating that the cameras will be turned on whenever an officer is dealing with the public.
The department received eight new First View Pro cameras from Digital Ally, a company that LPD has been dealing with for years. The eight cameras are enough for each officer on a particular shift to be equipped, with a few extras.
The cameras are equipped with a heavy-duty, rotating clip so that they can be mounted on the officers chest in whichever way is most convenient. The cameras have a 10-11 hour battery life, and come with a 'hot swap' feature where a dead battery can be replaced with a hot one while the camera is still recording. The cameras also have microphones to capture audio, as well as video.
At the end of a shift each officer will connect his camera to the docking station, enter his name and PIN, and all video footage will automatically be downloaded, where it can be viewed on the computer or even on a smartphone. Hunt said that videos can be tagged to save, but they are trying for a 90-day roll off to save storage space. Hunt and Chief of Police, Sean Holdiness, have access to all of the recordings.
The cameras were obtained on a five-year lease deal with Digital Ally, for $8 per year. The deal also covers any repair issues that might arise. At the end of three years, the cameras are traded in for new ones.
Hunt said that the cameras have been in use for about one-and-a-half weeks, and so far the reviews from the officers have been positive.
