If you go
What: Body cam Q & A
When: 6 to 7 p.m. June 6
Where: Broomfield City Council Chambers, 1 Descombes Drive
Cost: Free
More info: Email Joleen Reefe at jreefe@broomfield.org. A form will become available for residents to submit questions if they cannot attend the public meeting.
Other departments with body cams
Aurora
Boulder
Boulder County
Colorado Springs
Denver
Erie
Lafayette
Louisville
Police body cameras have come to Broomfield.
More than a dozen Broomfield police officers began trying out the cameras Wednesday — a testing phase that is expected to last through June 21 and will include four models from different companies.
Each model will be tested for one week, with officers wearing the devices clipped somewhere on their torso.
“At the end they’ll bring back notes and evaluations and comments and as a department we’ll make a decision based on what we need,” said Commander Barb Griebel, who is working with the testing and evaluation process.
Police Chief Gary Creager said the department has also reached out to local schools and hospitals for feedback.
Eventually body cameras will be assigned to all officers below the rank of commander, which means the purchase of 158 cameras.
The department is budgeted for $433,912 this year, including the cameras, docks, chargers, an equipment maintenance plan and software licenses.
That amount also includes a full-time digital evidence technician who will be hired to manage the data pulled from cameras. That process has begun and the position is budgeted for a $96,244 a year salary plus benefits.
Cameras will run continuously, Griebel said, but officers will have the option to switch on the device, which will capture about 30 seconds prior to that.
Officers will be encouraged to record any time they’re in contact with residents, Griebel said, and if someone asks, they can explain that the interaction is being recorded. Volunteers for the testing program have gone through training and will be able to answer questions.
Some sensitive situations, including sexual assault investigations, will not be recorded, Griebel said.
“Body cameras are a wonderful tool, but the people are what really matter more than anything else in this world,” Griebel said. “There will always be that balancing.”
People can express concerns and officers will evaluate those circumstances, she said, to see if the concerns are reasonable and will not harm the criminal investigation. At that point, officers would tell residents if they are turning off cameras.
“We want to make sure there’s absolute transparency,” Griebel said.
Officers testing the equipment will look at the quality of the video, audio, how easy it is for officers to use, how easy it to inadvertently turn it on, how easy it is to upload data, how easy to redact or blur images in cases of juveniles or other sensitive images.
“We’re looking at the whole usefulness and the over all quality of the product,” she said.
The department is still working on the public access policy, including how residents would be able to view the video and how long recordings will be kept.
A full body cam plan will go before council in August and equipment purchases and department-wide training in the fall. Cameras then will be rolled out incrementally, Griebel said.
Officers have been curious about the cameras and have been able to visit with officers who came from other departments that used them.
“I think they all see there’s a lot of benefit for them and for the public to move forward with this technology,” Griebel said.
At a study session last week, officers presenting their findings said overall officers have had positive reactions to body cams, but that there was a chance SWAT would not like their tactics captured on video.
Nine vendors originally filed a request for information and the department narrowed them down to Axon International, DHE Computer Systems, Digital Ally and VIEVU.
Creager said that people have argued residents or police officers “act better” when they know they’re being filmed, but that in the end it doesn’t matter.
He doesn’t know that there will be a significant change in the number of complaints, which are not numerous to begin with.
Typically the police department receives 35 to 45 complaints a year. Of those, approximately 10 are formal complaints that required more in-depth investigation.
ennifer Rios: 303-473-1361, riosj@broomfieldenterprise.com or Twitter.com/Jennifer_Rios
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