HARTSVILLE, SC (WBTW) – The Hartsville Police Department and city leaders say officer body cameras are proving to be an effective way to not only police, but to also strengthen the community’s trust in officers.
Prior to the department’s implementation of body cameras, officers strongly relied on eye-witness accounts of a possible crime or even a dispute between officers and suspects.
Hartsville City Manager Natalie Zeigler says now that the city has the power to play back video of an exact event, leaders and officers are realizing how powerful the testimony of the cameras can be.
“We have a complaint that ends up on my desk, we can pull up that video, and it’s clear,” describes Zeigler. “And we can have that person that is complaining sit in here, we can watch it together, and so far in my office, people have ended up apologizing and saying, ‘Well maybe I need to have a talk with my son,’ or maybe that didn’t happen like I thought it happened.”
The video footage is kept on the city’s system for a minimum of 90 days so any time a complaint is filed or something is not clear, the police department can watch the video back.
Technology also protects the video from being altered as officers must upload the video to the cloud software before it can even be viewed. There’s no way for the officer or others in the department to access the video from the camera.
Lieutenant Mark Blair with the Hartsville Police Department says having these cameras is great because it holds his officers accountable for anything that happens during traffic stops and other encounters.
“It can help the officers do their job right,” states Lt. Blair. “It can also provide a method for us to discipline officers or correct bad behaviors when officers do things wrong. The camera is sort of an unbiased witness.”
Lt. Blair went on to say he feels the body cameras make the department transparent by allowing people to see what’s happening during any traffic stop.
The Hartsville Police Department purchased 14 body cameras in 2016 and was able to purchase more this year with grant money from the U.S. Department of Justice so each officer is on the streets equipped with a camera.
The department started using body cameras in 2010.