Chief John Clair of the Quantico Town Police Department says body cameras are all the rage.
His six officers will soon get wired up with the mountable cameras that are meant to record a police officer’s entire day. That means every interaction with the public, good or bad.
And that has Chief Clair a bit worried.
“The police body cameras are all the talk right now. We used them when I was a police officer in the Town of Dumfries,” said Clair. “But the question becomes what do we do with that data after it’s been recorded.”
The video cameras will cost $600 each. An annual subscription service to upload and maintain the recorded video, or data, from those cameras, will cost about $2,000, said Clair. Quantico will join Prince William County police, which is also getting body cameras for their officers to test.
Clair knows that the data recorded on the cameras will be subject of Freedom of Information Act laws. But how much of it, and in what cases will it need to be released, he asks.
The chief used an example of a domestic dispute. If police are called to the home of an arguing couple, officers’ body cameras will be rolling. That could mean that video of the interior of the house, as well as the outside of the home could be made public.
“I have nothing to hide, but maybe you do,” Clair said.
Whether or not the cameras may be seen as an invasion of privacy, Clair said a camera did come in handy while he was still on patrol in Dumfries.
He said a cab driver complained about him after a traffic stop. Clair said he saw the driver throw trash out the window, and that the cabbie claimed Clair cursed at him.
The video, Clair said, showed the officer was courteous, and the cabbie then dropped his complaint.
Clair hopes that since so many police agencies are receiving body cameras, the federal government will soon come up with standardized rules that spell out what portions of video will and won’t be released to the public under the Freedom of Information laws.
The town police department is also getting a new 2016 Ford Explorer police vehicle through a state grant. The vehicle is funded with monies from a Medicare settlement with the state, said Clair.
“This is what we’ve been waiting for, and what we’ve been hoping for,” said Clair.
