Baltimore County Police Say 1,400 Now Have Body-Worn Cameras
BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore County police say they've finished training and equipping about 1,400 officers with body-worn cameras.
The county began giving officers cameras in July 2016. The initial plan was to roll them out by 2018, but the program was accelerated after criticism related to the fatal police shooting of Korryn Gaines in 2016. The shooting was not recorded on body cameras.
"As far as the tools that we have, it's a top notch option," said Captain Joseph Conger of Baltimore County police.
Since officers first started wearing cameras, the county has handled more than 250,000 recordings covering 45,000 hours of video footage.
"It provides comfort and safety for not only myself but the citizen," said Baltimore County officer Gary Doucett. "In the current climate, not having it, it kind of makes the public feel like we're hiding something. Now, we're more transparent."
In 2017, seven people have been shot by county police officers — three of them fatally. Portions of each of the incidents have been captured on body cameras, but the moment of the shooting was not recorded in every case.
The first five years of the program is expected to cost $7.1 million.
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