The Providence police and Mayor Jorge Elorza announced on Thursday the rollout of a pilot program that puts body-worn cameras on 10 police officers over the next two months. This is the first step toward outfitting all 400-plus city officers with the new technology.
If the city can win federal grants, the Providence police may become the largest department in New England with body-worn cameras, a long-awaited priority for the mayor and supported by the police administration and union. Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Pare said the video "protects the community and the police officers, and it's our best evidence in an arrest."
Police Chief Hugh T. Clements said the video would strengthen criminal cases, reduce internal-affairs complaints and protect police officers from false allegations. "Body-worn cameras is important in our commitment to transparency," he said, "and to better understand what officers encounter from call to call."
TASER International and VIEVU are each providing 10 cameras and equipment during each four-week trial period. The results of the pilot program will be evaluated within the next six months, Pare said.
The roll-out is free. The five-year commitment is expensive.
Capt. Dean Isabella estimated the cost at roughly $1.6 million for the storage, equipment and cameras for all Providence officers. That's $400,000 to $500,000 for the first year, and $300,000 each year for the next four years.
The city is applying for federal grants, under President Obama's proposal to purchase 50,000 body cameras for law enforcement agencies within three years. Last fall, the U.S. Department of Justice awarded $23.2 million to 73 agencies in 32 states to expand the use of body-worn cameras.
Providence is counting on getting a federal grant. If it doesn't, "this goes away," Pare said bluntly.
The pilot program will test the department's new 10-page policy on body-worn cameras, based on policies from the New York City Police Department, Charlotte Mecklenburg County, N.C., the Police Executive Research Forum, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the COPS Office at the U.S. Department of Justice.
The policy details how the cameras are to be used, when they should record, and the chain of custody for the recordings. The video won't be easily accessible to the public. Video used during an arrest or in a criminal case will be considered evidence, which will become public when used in a trial, Pare said. People in the video will be able to view it.
For other cases, Pare said, the decision to release the videos will be made on a case-by-case basis and in compliance with the state Access to Public Records Act.
Officer Jose Deschamps, one of the officers to wear the cameras, showed his first video — a quickie tour of the Public Safety Complex lobby. Seven patrol officers, two members of the gun task force, and a traffic officer have volunteered to wear the cameras.
- "It's a way of us showing the community that we truly want to work with them," said Deschamps.
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Body-worn cameras
Cost for cameras, storage: $400,000 the first year; $300,000 each year for next four years.
When the cameras are recording:
— All traffic stops and pursuits.
— All encounters with "reasonable suspicion" of criminal activity.
— All building searches.
— All arrests or protective custody.
— Any interaction that escalates and becomes adversarial.
When the cameras are not recording:
— To avoid compromising identities or investigative techniques of undercover officers.
— Dealing with victims of sex crimes or child abuse.
— During administrative duties at the department.
— In places of "reasonable expectation of privacy," inside homes, locker rooms, restrooms, hospital emergency rooms.
— To record any personal conversation with department employee without knowledge or permission.
— During strip searches of detainees.
— When potential witness requests confidentiality.
— When victim or witness requests not to be recorded, and the situation is not confrontational.
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