Detroit Police Officers To Be Outfitted With Body Cameras Over Next 3 Years
DETROIT (WWJ) - Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Police Chief James Craig have announced plans to put body cameras on all Detroit police officers and install working dash-cams in all patrol cars.
Mayor Mike Duggan and Police Chief James Craig announced details of the plan and a timeline for outfitting the department at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
"We expect that in early in 2016 we will start to deploy the permanent body cameras at the rate of 100 officers a month, until all 2,500 officers in our patrol and special units are live," said Duggan.
No bigger than a lipstick tube, the cameras are meant to record an officer's-eye view at all times.
It will be an integrated system which records all officer interaction with the public.
Officers like John Sejec took part in the pilot program.
"You know everybody is out there with a cell phone - so why not tell your own story about what really happened at a scene or a police run. Someone makes an allegation - well we can say -- we have video," said Sejec.
Police Chief Craig has said the body cameras will not only allow officers to accurately document critical information, crime scene evidence and police-citizen interaction, but also promote more confidence within the community.
"It depends on the contact," said Craig, when asked if people have to be warned they are being recorded. "Different states have different laws - if we are going into someone's home - we will certainly make that announcement. We wouldn't want to record children."
Part of the $3 million cost of the body cameras will come from a federal grant.
The department started testing the body cameras late last year.
In March, the program was extended to 20 officers in the 11th Precinct.
President Barack Obama has promoted the use of body cameras by police after last year's shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
