Bend PD officers set to begin testing body cameras next week

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Having chosen a few vendors to try out, the Bend Police Department said Thursday that its officers will begin testing body cameras next week.

Here's their announcement, in full:

Over the last six months, the Bend Police Department established a body-worn camera working group consisting of members from the police department, City of Bend Legal Department, and the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office. 

The workgroup narrowed the selection of the body-worn camera supplier down to a few providers.  These providers are all nationally utilized by multiple agencies and offer some differences in their services and capabilities. 

Over the next several months, the Bend Police Department will be testing and evaluating equipment from each of these providers to determine if the services and capabilities meet the needs, as established by the working group. 

The testing will begin next week, with several officers on a variety of shifts wearing and evaluating the body-worn cameras from one provider, GuardWatch, to start to determine which products fit the needs that the working group identified.

"Our goal is to have a fully implemented system active by early in the summer," Lt. Juli McConkey said in the news release.

McConkey told NewsChannel 21 that "in the future, we hope to test dash cameras as well."

Reporter Jack Hirsh will be following the start of the testing, for Monday's newscasts.