After completing a 90-day testing phase, the Los Angeles Police Department has taken a step further and decided to outfit hundreds of Los Angeles officers with on-body cameras in the future, the Los Angeles Times reported. The technology was deemed as "the future of policing" by LAPD Chief Charlie Beck.
In the department's latest move to utilize a new technology for better accountability and protection of police officers, Taser International was chosen as the preferred brand to help take this initiative forward. However for now, it remains unclear when the equipment will start being used by the police force.
"This exact conversation is occurring throughout the nation," said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. "And there are multiple policies that have been in effect, that are being put in effect. Some consistency is good there."
The Arizona-based company's $500-apiece body-worn wireless camera will be the size of a mobile phone, with the device being clipped on an officer's uniform either on the side of a collar or to the center of the chest, the LAPD's chief information officer and a department technology expert announced during Tuesday's Los Angeles Police Commission meeting.
Although $1 million in private donations will be used to fund the cameras, it hasn't been confirmed whether a large-scale deployment will also be ordered in the future, according to ABC News.
Initially, products from two companies were compared and tested for several months before the LAPD deemed Taser, with a battery life of 14 hours, as "absolutely the preferred vendor" over Coban Technologies Inc., which has been used previously to outfit LAPD patrol cars with in-car cameras.
"It has some of the best video quality that we've been able to see, especially in low-light conditions," said LAPD Sgt. Dan Gomez, adding that the Taser product best fulfilled LAPD's needs, including camera battery life, video storage capabilities and how well the equipment captures video.
Since audio and video recordings of police encounters with the public could help provide evidence against controversial officer-involved shootings and falsely accused cops, advocates believe the technology to be a valuable tool for the department.
"One of the features that we like is what's called the 'pre-event,' so when the officer does activate the camera, it actually goes back in time 30 seconds," he said.
During months of testing, about 30 volunteer officers at LAPD's Central Division were given the chance to participate.
"What we do know is that the officers want them, that they do like them," said Gomez. "The ones that have deployed them, when we were done with our 90 days, they asked to keep the devices so they could deploy them longer than that."
In addition, the public's response to the camera systems has also been positive, according to a public survey of about 300 respondents.
Meanwhile, department officials will meet with the company this week to begin discussing its contract, and then meet internally in the coming weeks to talk about what the on-body camera policy should include, according to LA Times.
