Police get funds to buy 1,500 body cameras

THE police service is expecting 1,500 body cameras after Police Commissioner Gary Griffith said funds were recently released for the purchase.

In a media release on Saturday, Griffith said his request for funding was recently approved and members of the Special Operation Response Team (SORT) and other front-line units will be the recipients of the cameras.

“There is a standard operation procedure which would assist greatly in acquiring proper evidence to ascertain whether the minimum use of force policy was adhered to and that officers correctly used their firearms as required where there was a threat to the officers or citizens,” he said.

The other units to benefit from the cameras are: Guard and Emergency Branch (GEB); Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and all divisional task forces; Multi-Operational Police Section (MOPS), Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Emergency Response Patrol (ERP).

Last June, following a triple police killing in Morvant, Griffith said he ordered 1,000 body cameras to add to the 180 that were in use as part of an ongoing trial.

The media release did not specify how soon the cameras will be available for use or the cost. Demand for body cameras came from the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) and others following a notable rise in police-involved killings.

The release added: “Never before has so much emphasis been placed on the minimum use of force policy for the officers. Officers have also been supplied with the minimum use of force equipment such as batons, pepper spray and tasers. The officers have also been supplied with communication equipment in all vehicles so they can call for back-up when required.”

Griffith also addressed a video of a police officer removing what appeared to be the bodies of two men killed in an alleged shoot-out with police last Wednesday. He ordered that with “immediate effect” there will be a standard procedure on how police treat with people shot by them.

The standard procedure would mandate that if the victim is dead, then the officers should not remove the body but wait for the district medical officer. If the victim is still alive, then officers will be trained to know how to conduct basic first aid and also know how to carry the victim to a vehicle to transport for medical treatment. Griffith added that front-line officers will be given first aid equipment.