With the White House announcing it would pursue making $263 million in matching funds available for a “Body Worn Camera Partnership Program,” Pittsburgh City Council and Mayor Bill Peduto have moved to make the units available far faster than they would have been.
On Dec. 8, council approved moving money from line items covering a variety of expenditures ranging from wall and step repair and facilities maintenance to splash zones and traffic signal hardware to free up $650,000—which, if the federal program were authorized, would be matched.
The move would not change either the total proposed $507.8 million operating budget or the $76.6 million proposed capital budget. Council has scheduled a final vote on both for Dec. 15.
Police Chief Cameron McLay acknowledged during his confirmation hearing that same day that there are still some privacy, procedural and legal issues to sort out before the body cameras can be issued department-wide.
So far, the units deployed with bicycle and motorcycle officers have had a positive effect, he said.
“When people know they are being recorded, that tends to bring the drama down very quickly,” he said.
State wiretap law still restricts officers from recording oral communications inside an individual’s residence. The TASER AXON flex cameras currently deployed record audio and video.
Lieutenant Clarence Trapp told the New Pittsburgh Courier in October that even though the price point for each AXON flex unit is now “under a grand,” and it meets all their technical requirements, he planned on testing it against units from other companies after the first of the year, before a slower planned deployment to patrol officers at all the zone stations.
“Since Ferguson, companies are springing up rapidly,” he said. “So we have to wade through and see which ones are legit and which are fly-by-night. But these—even during high speed chases with a lot of head movement, the video is still crisp.”
(Send comments to cmorrow@newpittsburghcourier.com.)
