Prineville police already pushing ‘record’ on crime

As law enforcement agencies around the nation ponder whether to deploy body cameras, Prineville police officers are touting five years of experience using the technology and perfecting their policies.

Sgt, Jimmy O’Daniel recently gave NewsChannel 21 a look at how the cameras are used and how the data is stored.

The department’s camera selection has evolved in those five years, starting with basic digital cameras and upgrading to various models of body cameras as newer technology became available.

“This one is favored by our officers,” O’Daniel said, holding up a body camera, “It’s small, and you just slide this over and it’s on.”

After a couple years of testing, every police officer now wears one every day.

O’Daniel said using the cameras for the most part has been fairly simple, but deciding how to use them took more work. Currently, there are no state rules regulating them.

“If they’re contacting a person, most of the time it’s on, and it’s part of our policy to advise people that they are being recorded,” O’Daniel said.

All the footage officers record is later uploaded to a special server and kept on file. O’Daniel said as of now, the department saves all the video files, but that could later change.

The department’s cameras range in cost from $200 to about $900 each. They hope to eventually equip all officers with the same model.

The software is also pricey, but O’Daniel said the savings are in the time — and time is money.

“If there’s a video out there, the frivolous complaints go away,” O’Daniel said. “It’s about transparency. We have nothing to hide. It puts people in our shoes of why we make the decisions we make.”

He hopes in the future the cameras also will either replace or help cut down the time devoted to written and dictated police reports.

O’Daniel said the body cameras can also keep suspects on their best behavior — making everyone safer.

“Sometime it deescalates a situation, and people act a little bit more polite if they are being recorded,” O’Daniel said.

While police officers like O’Daniel say body cameras hold everyone accountable, prosecutors say the technology helps them win cases.

“We see body camera video in a lot of DUII investigations. We’ve also seen them in some resisting arrest cases, some disorderly conduct type cases,” said Crook County Chief Deputy District Attorney Aaron Brenneman.

Brenneman said the video footage is not only a weapon in court, but can often squash a case before it ever gets there.

“If you’re able to show (a suspect) the video, it can actually save a lot of time, as far as negotiating a case and not going to trial,” Brenneman said.

In addition to his duties as a prosecutor, Brenneman is also part of a special legislative work group helping Oregon lawmakers develop rules and guidelines for body camera use.

He said a main priority is making it legal for police to record people without warning.

“What we’re hoping to work on is getting a waiver of that notice requirement,” Brenneman said. “So hopefully it will just be assumed that if you’re having contact with law enforcement, that you’re going to be recorded.”

Other policy questions the group is addressing include the manner in which camera data is stored, and whether video footage should be treated like other evidence in public records requests.

Although Brenneman said he expects lawmakers will approve some body camera laws this year, he thinks they’ll be broad in scope and allow police agencies to develop their own rules.

He said the state is likely to mandate that the individual agencies’ policies must be explicitly outlined, communicated to the public and enforced.

Bend police had hoped to put body cameras on officers before the new year, but spokesman Lt. Nick Parker said the department is still testing different cameras and no longer has a timeline for a program launch.

Redmond police and the Crook County Sheriff’s Office also report that they are currently testing body cameras and have interest in using them.

Jefferson County Sheriff Jim Adkins told NewsChannel 21 his office is interested in the cameras, but does not have the money to purchase them.

Deschutes County Sheriff Larry Blanton said he opposes body cameras and his deputies will not use them under his leadership.

Blanton said he believes the cameras take away from the human element of law enforcement interaction from the public, and could also lead to fewer people reporting and speaking candidly about crimes.