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Foothill-De Anza Community College District police announced that they issued their officers body-worn cameras Thursday, in order to be more transparent with the community.

Police said that they submitted a grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Justice in the spring of 2016 for the purchase of body-worn camera technology. They were one of 12 California agencies-and the only college police department recipient-awarded a grant in the fall of 2017 to purchase and deploy the cameras.

The Department of Justice’s grant, which was just over $27,000, covered half of the cost of the cameras. The community college district police budget covered the other half, police said.

The police department called its need for use of force “nearly nonexistent,” but the use of the body cameras is still expected to contribute to reducing or maintaining lower levels of officer force.

Officers will use AXON Body-2 cameras, which are one of the most popular models used among law enforcement, according to police. A new general order was created to ensure proper use of the cameras and video files they produce.

The order follows county and state standards for retention and reviewing the footage.

“The majority of law enforcement agencies in Santa Clara County have body-worn camera programs in place and it has become a community expectation that officers have this tool available to them,” district Police Chief Ron Levine said in a statement. “We believe deployment of this technology will increase accountability and have other positive spillover effects.”

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12 Comments

  1. This article reads like a press release from the police. The important questions it fails to ask:

    1. Who controls the footage? Under what circumstances can citizens have access to footage in which they themselves appear? Without some form of public access, cameras bring no transparency, which means no accountability. They simply become another tool that can help the police when they want it to.

    2. Do police body cameras work? Do they reduce police misconduct? Bring more transparency to policing? This appears to be an open question still. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/12/do-police-body-cameras-work-ferguson/383323/

    3. What mechanisms exist to ensure police keep the cameras on? Will there be consequences for cameras turned off before police actions?

  2. If the police in the field are allowed to decide when the cameras are ON or OFF, then there could always be NO VIDEO when the police act unlawfully. If there is a firm policy that cameras must be ON (in defined or all circumstances), then the incentive to HIDE or DUMP video and claim there was NO VIDEO would be reduced.

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