After setbacks in deployment last year due to hardware flaws, the NC State University Police Department has marked one month using body cams for officers on patrol.
Major David Kelly, the support services commander with the department, said the program is “going very well.”
After starting the program in December of 2015, it reached full deployment last December. The long time between initial deployment and the recent redeployment was the result of an unspecified issue with the camera platform itself.
“We worked with the manufacturer company, L3, to work out some issues which were actually design issues with the cameras themselves, so we suspended the program for a while, while we sent all the cameras back,” Kelly said. “We just got all of the cameras back in, and they’ve been deployed out in the field.”
The body cams do not record the whole duration of an officer’s shift, however, only the moments when an officer is interacting with a member of the public and has manually turned it on. Footage from the cameras is used to evaluate officer performance in the field and how officers interact with the public. Initially, officers often forgot to turn their cameras on, but Kelly explained that the new technology would just take some getting used to.
“It’s like with any new form of technology or equipment that officers have, it’s going to have to take a period of time for them to become accustomed to turning on a body worn camera,” Kelly said. “What the success rate now is, I don’t know. But the number of files we’re seeing being downloaded daily based on when they’re supposed to activate them seems to be consistent with them consciously knowing that they need to turn them on.”
Student reactions to the program were somewhat varied but had a common element of not being aware there even was a body cam program.
“I have no idea what it is,” said Sam Weninger, a first-year studying engineering, when asked about the program.
Kye Laughter, a first-year studying communication, echoed Weninger’s sentiment and expressed concerns about the costs of the program as well.
“As long as it’s handled in a fiscally responsible manner, by all means, do it,” Laughter said.
Video from the body cams is stored on a server that is not connected to an external network and retained for 30 days, unless it is part of an investigation or case. Video can be obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request, though North Carolina law specifies that the requested video should be relevant to the requester.
The specific model of camera being used is a BodyVision XP™, which is quoted from the manufacturer as having 32GB of internal storage, a 110-degree field of view, and records at 1280 x 720 and 30fps, with a battery life of nine hours. The camera also takes still photos and saves video automatically recorded before the camera was activated
