The Sioux City Police Department is the latest to test body cameras. Police Chief Doug Young says the cameras could soon become part of their regular equipment.
“We’ve already started the testing process, we’ve got a vendor in right now that we’re testing. I’ve got a couple of officers who’re wearing the body camera right now and we’re going through the IT part of it and how that works,” Young says. “But I anticipate having a couple of other vendors come in with their product and then we will make a decision at that time.”
Chief Young says they are also working on a plan for using the cameras. “If we go to body cameras, we’ve got to develop policy on when they are going to be on, when they are going to be off. How we are going to disseminate the information that those body cameras capture. There’s a lot of things that have to be done before we actually implement,” Young says.
He says there is no set timetable for deciding on using the cameras — but says that day is coming sooner than later. Young says he knows as soon as he decides to go ahead with the cameras something will come out that is cheaper and better. “But it’s a move that we’ve got to make,” Young says. Some police departments are now also using aerial drones, but Young says there are no plans for his department to start using them.
(Story by Woody Gottburg,KSCJ, Sioux City)