By Police1 Staff
One of the many hurdles a police department must confront when adopting a body camera program is educating and comforting the affected public, who often fear body cameras will lessen the amount of privacy to which they’re accustomed.
Like any change in law enforcement, the easiest way to integrate a body camera program is by illustrating visibility — and this starts before the program is infiltrated.
1. Educate Them Early
According to a study conducted by PERF in conjunction with COPS, many police executives found it useful to engage the community before rolling out their camera programs. Different agencies have accomplished this in three ways: announcing plans via social media, public campaigning, and soliciting feedback from the public.
A. Social Media: The Rialto (Calif.) Police Department used social media to inform the public about its new body camera program.
“You have to engage the public before the cameras hit the streets,” said Rialto Chief Farrar. “You have to tell people what the cameras are going to be used for and how everyone can benefit from them.”
B. Public Campaigning: The Greensboro (N.C.) Police Department partnered with the Greensboro Police Foundation to launch a “Put Cameras on Cops” public information campaign that included posting billboards and reaching out to the community.
C. Soliciting Feedback: The LAPD, which is in the process of testing body-worn cameras, plans to solicit public feedback from the community when developing its camera policies.
2. Gain Support of Policy-makers
Getting your city or town to comply will be a lot easier with more support on your side.
Chief Don Lanpher of Aberdeen (S.D.) said that it’s important for agencies to engage local policymakers and other stakeholders in order to gain support.
“We went to the mayor, the city council, and the state’s attorney’s office and showed them actual footage that officers had recorded to demonstrate why these cameras would be useful,” explained Aberdeen.
“Without their support, implementing the program would have been a challenge. Communication and developing those partnerships is critical.”
3. Demonstrate Transparency
It’s inevitable that body cameras are going to capture the good and the bad. The community is going to expect to see both and will want answers for why certain courses of action have been taken. Being as forthright as possible, as quickly as possible, can help to gain the trust of your community.
“It is important that agencies are open and transparent with the community,” said Deputy Chief Christensen of Fort Collins. “If we only show the good and hide the bad, it will foster distrust of the police.”
Agencies have accomplished this in the following ways:
A. Make footage easily-accessible. The Oakland (Calif.) Police Department has proactively posted body-worn camera footage on their website to demonstrate transparency and to help resolve questions surrounding controversial incidents.
B. Address Issues of Misconduct. In Phoenix, the police department released to the media body-worn camera footage from an officer who was fired for misconduct. Assistant Chief of Police Dave Harvey of Phoenix explained that the police union requested the release to demonstrate transparency.
C. Compile and release statistical data. It’s recommended that agencies collect statistical data concerning body-worn camera usage, including when video footage is used in criminal prosecutions and internal affairs matters. That data should then be released to the public, either periodically or as part of the agency’s year-end report.
This accomplishes two things: It promotes transparency and trust within the community, and it allows agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of their body camera programs and to identify areas for improvement.
As more and more departments report that the implementation of body cameras has yielded fewer complaints against officers and fewer cases of use of force, these cameras will speak for themselves. The key to starting a program with the right support is widespread education prior to the use of the technology.