Ferguson Township police are now wearing body cameras. Here's what it means
The Ferguson Township Police Department announced Monday that its officers are now wearing body cameras.
The move makes Ferguson Township the first police department in the Centre Region to utilize both body and vehicle cameras.
"We are protecting ourselves for the protection of our citizens and our officers," Chief Chris Albright said in a release.
The cameras will be used to record every interaction between officers and the public, the release said, from routine traffic stops to arrests.
"Adding body cameras continues and strengthens the trusted relationship we have with the people we serve," Sgt. Ryan Hendrick, the department's community relations officer, said. "The community trusts us, and we trust our officers."
In deciding to purchase body as well as vehicle cameras, Ferguson Township police hope to increase transparency between the department and the public, and to be able to provide better information in court. Footage of each arrest will be sent to the District Attorney’s Office, according to the release, but most recordings will not be made public.
"Much of what we record will be protected information," Albright said. "In the event that a video is released to the public, the redacted version will blur images, such as license plates, driver's licenses, identifiable items in the vehicle or home, and the faces of minors and bystanders."
The use of police body cameras became a popular news topic in recent years due to several national cases of civil unrest and questions about how how arrests were handled by police officers.
Although the use of body cameras by police can help improve accountability and transparency, it also raises questions about privacy and what police can and can't do with the recordings.
In 2017, Pennsylvania amended Act 22 to set standards for what communication equipment police can use and how they should maintain the information they gather using those devices.
In adherence with Act 22, communications must be made in the presence of an on-duty, uniformed or otherwise identifiable officer, who is using an approved recording device in the course of law enforcement activities. Law enforcement personnel who meet these conditions are now no longer required to announce they are recording or switch off a device when entering a residence.
Also in accordance with Act 22, the Ferguson Township Police Department established its own written policy that details the training of officers authorized to make recordings, the time period when recording devices will be in operation, proper use, maintenance and storage of the devices and the information collected.
The cost of the body cameras is being covered by township funds, Albright said, as there were no federal grants available when they started the program.
In the Centre Region, State College and Patton Township police departments also use vehicle cameras, but not body cameras.
This story was originally published June 18, 2018 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Ferguson Township police are now wearing body cameras. Here's what it means."