We’re used to patrol cars having dash cameras, but now the Owasso Police Department wants to go one step farther. They want to give all 39 of their patrol officers their own wearable video cameras. They say that'll make things a lot easier on them and taxpayers.
Welcome to 2011.
“Technology has finally caught up to the point to where small video systems can be attached to officers at all times,” Owasso Police Sergeant Nick Boatman told FOX23.
Soon Sergeant Nick Boatman and close to 40 of his colleagues will be wearing $900 Vievu personal video cameras. They'll record everything an officer does day or night.
“You can actually go back with these videos and watch the officer’s actions how they dealt with people. What they did at a particular scene,” Sgt. Boatman said.
Another burden the flip-cam like cameras helps remove, “the constant litigation that police face on a basis, complaints, and false accusations.”
Lawsuits against Owasso Police could be scrapped if the department has indisputable video proof of what happened during an arrest or traffic stop. That doesn’t mean officers go and edit their video as they please.
“Whatever is recorded in the video is going to make into the hard drives that are right protected.”
An officer can watch, but not edit, the video they recorded. All in all, Sergeant Boatman says this is the right purchase at the right time.
“In the not too distant future, I foresee most police agencies going to personal video cameras for their officers.”
Before all 39 of those patrol officers get their video cameras, the Owasso City Council needs to approve the purchase. That should happen in the coming months.
