By Nicole June
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – As of Jan. 8, the Oak Grove Police Department now requires its officers to wear body cameras in an effort to increase the effectiveness of enforcement and transparency.
All 13 officers employed on the force have been assigned a device after being properly trained according to policy.
The cameras are made by a company called VIEVU, which specializes in what are known as Body Worn Cameras.
This technology, which is capable of shooting in HD and boasts a 95 degree field of vision, will replace traditional dash-cam video for the department.
Along with the other officers, Chief Les Langdon feels this is a positive step toward better community relations with police.
“I’m hoping that what it’s going to bring to our community, and across the nation with all the other departments that are going to it, is accountability and transparency,” Langdon said. “There seems to be a tone across the nation and I think the cameras will show everybody what the police do see. And I think also if there are officers out there that are maybe not acting the way they need to be acting, they’ll be held accountable by the cameras. And I think that’s going to help on both sides.”
Officers will attach the cameras at the beginning of every shift and begin recording at appropriate times as determined by the department’s official 14-page policy.
The cameras are worn on the officer’s torso at an angle that best captures the officer’s own perspective.
With some exceptions related to privacy and legal concerns, Oak Grove Police Officers will record interactions in the following situations:
• All calls for service in which officials contact is made with citizens
• All traffic stops
• All citizen transport (excluding ride-a-longs due to battery life)
• All investigatory stops
• All foot pursuits
• Arrests of any person(s)
• Searches of any kind
• Seizures of any evidence
• Request for consent to search
• Miranda warnings and response from in-custody suspects
• Statements made by citizens and suspects
• K-9 searches of vehicles
• Issuances of written violations
• Arriving at law enforcement events and/or citizen contact initiated by other officers
• Other incidents the officer reasonably believes should be recorded for law enforcement purposes
“The cameras are designed to catch exactly what the officer sees, so we’re not seeing a lot of background. So when they take a video to court, the jury, prosecutor, or defense is going to see exactly what the officer is seeing, which may in a lot of cases explain and justify why the officer took the action that he took,” Chief Langdon explained.
The cameras will store an entire shift, and each officer is responsible for placing their device on the docking station at the end of the day to upload their recordings to the department’s database. All videos are automatically dated and time stamped.
The data will be stored for an appropriate length of time in case of a review or investigation. The public can only view these recordings through an open records request as per Kentucky open records laws.
Chief Langdon is hopeful that these cameras will bring about positive change for Oak Grove.
“Most of the officers across the nation are good police officers. I think this will show that not just in Oak Grove, but in every place else, the officers are genuine and they are there for the community,” he said. “With the tone of the relationship between the citizens and the police now, this is going to show that we’re working and we’re moving forward to try to mend that, and we’re trying to be transparent with our actions.”
Photos by Nicole June/ClarksvilleNow.com