Police body cameras are so hot right now they made Lompoc City Manager Patrick Wiemiller’s State of the City speech on April 7. He said the cameras weren’t an easy sell for him, but noted that Police Chief Pat Walsh was somehow able to win him over on the issue.
Although no one in the city is running out to purchase the cameras, yet, it’s something Walsh is hoping to eventually gain for his department. During his speech, Wiemiller gave several reasons the cameras could be a viable thing for the city, namely the improved technology now available on the market and Walsh’s approach to managing the potential purchase. He also mentioned several situations across the country where police body cameras could have added more clarity to tense situations.
Over the last year, activists nationwide have called for more transparency and the use of body cameras following several incidents where the public accused police of using excessive force, including in the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and most recently the shooting of Walter Scott in South Carolina.
The city manager mentioned that cameras could have also been useful in a local police-involved shooting in early February. A 17-year-old male was shot after allegedly charging Lompoc police officer Timothy Xiong with a 9-inch metal fork, despite Xiong allegedly telling the teen to stop several times. It wasn’t simply a fork, but a barbecue fork—a stabbing object, Wiemiller said.
Although it’s not a total selling point for Wiemiller, he said having complete, unedited video could help authorities determine if proper force was used in any incident, rather than simply relying on an officer’s word. The February shooting is still being investigated by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
“It is a good example of what I believe having a body camera video in hand would have helped the casual observer understand what the officer was facing at the moment,” Wiemiller told the Sun. “In the absence of body cameras, there are situations of he-said, she-said and no way to corroborate either side.”
In some police agencies around the country, excessive force complaints have fallen following the use of body cameras.
The Rialto Police Department in San Bernardino County started using body cameras in 2012. A joint study conducted by the police department and the University of Cambridge showed an 88 percent decrease in complaints against the department from the previous year and a 60 percent decrease in use of force by officers.
“They lower complaints, lower force, and it’s better for us to have the technology as opposed to not,” Chief Walsh said. “Law enforcement’s credibility is not what it used to be.”
Lompoc would not be the first police agency in the county to use body cameras. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office equipped a small contingent of its Isla Vista foot patrol deputies with body cameras as part of a pilot program earlier this year, according to spokesperson Kelly Hoover, who added that some technical issues still need to be ironed out before a decision is made to purchase more.
According to Walsh, his department bought three body cameras before he became chief in July 2014, although he won’t deploy them until a policy is written and training is developed for their use.
There’s also the issue of storing the data and the cost for all of the equipment. Although it’s a rudimentary estimate, he said it would cost $40,000 to equip all of his officers with body cameras and another $60,000 to pay for the infrastructure that would store and manage the video footage.
“Think about all of the traffic stops you need to keep,” Walsh said.
The three body cameras already owned by the Lompoc Police Department were purchased from Arizona-based Taser International, the same company that manufactures the electric stun guns used by police. Body cameras are a relatively new venture for Taser, but in 2005 the company developed stun devices with cameras attached to them. The footage from the cameras was low quality and police couldn’t use the gun simply to record, said Steve Tuttle, Taser’s vice president of strategic communications.
“You can’t just pull out a Taser and aim it at someone just to record because it’s a weapon,” Tuttle said.
In 2009, Taser started mounting small, lipstick-sized cameras to Oakley sunglasses. Then in 2012, the company developed the chest-mounted AXON body cameras, which are still on the market. Tuttle said body cameras can paint a more complete picture of police encounters.
A bystander captured the recent shooting of Walter Scott in South Carolina on video, but it only shows the tail end of the incident—it looks as if Scott is being shot in the back by officer Michael Slager. Dash cam footage from Slager’s police cruiser shows the initial encounter. But the two separate videos leave a gap in continuity. The videos don’t explain the entire course of events, Tuttle said.
“We’ve all seen the video from North Charleston, it’s a very powerful video,” he said. “Something happened before that video that doesn’t tell us the full context.”
As for Lompoc police, Walsh said it’s not a guarantee that his department will get body cameras any time soon. Wiemiller told the Sun he isn’t sure if the technology will make the cut for the current budget cycle, adding that a city-approved bidding process would most likely ensue.
“I would love dash cams as well,” Walsh said. “But if I were to choose, I would rather have body cams.”
Contact Staff Writer David Minsky at dminsky@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 16-23, 2015.
