Staff photo / Raymond L. Smith Warren police officer John Murdoch shows off one of the department’s body cameras on Friday. The city has 34 of the cameras available plus three more on order as part of a package with new police cruisers.

WARREN — All city police officers are expected to wear body cameras while on duty and use them to record incidents anytime they interact with the public, unless there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, according to city regulations.

The department developed and released its body-camera use policy in April 2020, as the department began using an increasing number of body cameras.

The department has 34 body cameras available, with another three more on order with new police vehicles. Seven of the newest body cameras were part of police cruiser purchase packages.

All new police vehicles purchased will include motor vehicle recorders and body cameras. The motor vehicle and body cameras are synced together.

Newer cameras are being purchased from a company called WatchGuard, while the approximately 15 older Fastback body cameras were purchased from a company called L3.

The department has 15 older L3 model body cameras that do not operate with vehicle cameras. The older body cameras range from three to 10 years old.

Motor Vehicle Recorders purchased with body cameras, which include charging and download stations, cost $7,880. Individually purchased body cameras with charging stations cost $2,100.

STATE, FEDERAL

FUNDING

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine last year announced a $5 million program in which the state will provide funds to local law enforcement agencies to purchase body cameras. Awards are expected to be announced later this month, according to the governor’s office.

While the program was aimed at communities that did not have body camera programs, the governor’s announcement stated communities that already have body cameras could apply for the grants.

The Office of Criminal Justice Services at the Department of Public Safety is handling these grants. It is still working on funding recommendations because it received $16 million in requests.

Warren purchased all of its police cameras using general fund money.

“We did not put in for the body camera grant this year because we had already purchased enough,” police Chief Eric Merkel said. “But we certainly will be looking at it when it is released for 2022-2023.”

Youngstown announced last November that it will use nearly $1.3 million from its American Rescue Plan funds to purchase 100 body cameras and shock devices for its police department.

Struthers provided body cameras for its 16 full-time and two part-time officers in July. Girard and Canfield police departments also have body cameras for their officers.

CAMERA POLICY

Images recorded on Warren’s cameras are downloaded to onsite servers at the police department. Recording from cameras in the police vehicles are downloaded through a Wi-Fi system at the city’s police department when police cruisers are driven in the below ground-level parking area at the city municipal building. Recordings from body cameras are downloaded when officers return the the cameras to their carriages.

Once the images are downloaded, they cannot be changed or altered. The images are held in in-house servers, not on remote servers.

“They are all working,” Merkel said. “Some are getting glitches here and there. We are expected to phase 11 out of 15 out over the next several years and replace them.”

The department averages between five and 18 officers per shift every day, depending on whether officers are working overlapping shifts and those who also may be working off-duty jobs that are still wearing their body cameras. Officers working side jobs have permission to wear their city-purchased body cameras. The businesses are not charged for their use.

However, according to department policies, officers may record when there is an expectation of arrest or search of residences or vehicles. Officers are not required to start or stop recordings solely on the demand of members of the public.

Officer safety is the primary concern when officers come into contact with the public or while making vehicle stops, not the ability to record an event. Officers are encouraged to record enforcement stops, according to the department’s policy manual.

“When officers are unclear about whether or not to record an incident, officers shall activate the body cameras to record the events,” the policy notes.

If officers do not operate their cameras because it would have made the situation unsafe, then they must notify their supervisor and document the reason for the delayed activation.

“Body-worn cameras shall be used during incidents that create reasonable suspicion in the mind of a reasonable police officer that a crime has been committed, is being committed or will be committed in the future,” the policy manual notes.

“The camera shall be activated anytime an officer sees a criminal act or traffic crash in an attempt to capture the events that led to the incident,” the policy report notes. “Cameras shall not be deactivated until an investigative contact or incident has been concluded.”

However, during a private conversation between an officer and his or her supervisor about an investigation, the camera may be turned off.

“If a victim or witness is unwilling to give a statement while the body camera is activated and the encounter is nonconfrontational, the camera may be deactivated,” according to the policy. “As soon as the private conversation is completed, the officer shall activate the camera and continue recording, so long as the situation still falls under the definition of required use.”

When officers fail to activate their body cameras or fail to record the entire contact, they are required to document the reason why the recordings were not made.

“Documenting the reasons for not recording helps to maintain agency transparency and accountability, ensures supervisory review of recording irregularities for quality assurance, and explains the absence of such video footage for investigations and court proceedings,” according to the department policies..

Merkel said the body cameras so far have been especially useful in the department’s personnel training.