By Abbie Alford, Reporter
A new piece of technology may help monitor and protect San Diego’s officers. The San Diego Police Department is considering equipping officers with body cameras that will record their every move.
From Fort Worth, Texas police departments to sweet home Oregon, law enforcement agencies of all sizes are adding a new piece of equipment to their uniform: body cams. And now the SDPD is considering dressing officers with another set of eyes.
“I am completely in support of the cameras, absolutely in support of it and we are moving forward with that,” newly appointed police chief Shelley Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman says she wants to keep officers safe and accountable especially with the recent sex scandals, and also help overcome racial profiling.
In Palo Alto, complaints against officers have gone down.
“This system allows protects our officers against complaints and it allows administration verifies our officers are doing police work the way we want them to do it,” Palo Alto Police Department Lt. Zach Perron said.
It’s still unclear how the SDPD will outfit themselves with the cameras, but currently officers in the Central Division are testing 10 body cameras. To outfit the entire department of patrol officers could cost $2 million dollars – an expense that will eventually pay for itself to protect and serve.
The money to pay for the cams will come from the surplus fund. Critics of the police body cams are concerned the recordings will violate their civil rights and won’t protect victims and suspects, but for the most part many people are supportive.
The president of the San Diego Police Officers Association wouldn’t say if they support the cameras or not, but looks forward to working with the city.
A spokesperson for the SDPD says officers are looking at what works and doesn’t work for other police departments and body cam technology. They hope to have all officers outfitted with the cameras by the end of this fiscal year, June 30.
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