SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - Southfield Police is adding body cams to its force. Chief Elvin Barren and city officials held a news conference Monday to talk about the cameras and related policies.
"Body-worn camera technology has been in existence for some time; this is where we are in policing. Transparency, showing what happens in the field to encourage community trust, manage perceptions," Barren said.
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Body cameras to be worn by Southfield Police Department
The Southfield Police Department announced this week that every officer will begin wearing body cameras, with an expectation to record every interaction with the public.
Barren says this initiative took around a year to come together and is costing around $1.5 million, with the money coming from the department's forfeiture funds and the general fund. The cameras will be paid for over the next five years.
Several different kinds of body cameras were tested. The ones chosen have several different features including high-definition video and GPS locators. It also has a self-recording feature that, should an officer forget to hit record, will activate a non-recording camera when it comes into close range with another officer's camera that has been activated.
It's an extra layer of security to the department's policy that the camera should always be activated and that officers must record every single encounter with the public. We're told the video goes to a cloud storage system so it's not possible to delete video either.
"We're very excited about this day," Barren added. "The Southfield Police Department has really good relations with the community already, but what better way with the acquisition of body cameras to enhance community trust."
We talked with an officer who agrees with the decision.
"It's a good tool to use for testimony and better report writing," said Southfield Officer Arthur Bridgeforth.
"This device protects our interest. Police officers are being charged nationally for crimes. What better way to show what happened than in-depth, high quality video," said Chief Barren.
The chief believes it's technology that will show when officers have made mistakes and confirm when officers have done their jobs correctly.
"If we need to defend our actions we will show the video as well to let the community know through full transparency what happened," he said. "This changes behavior on both sides of the camera."