The Columbia Police Department now has eight body cameras and is working on a plan to begin using them soon, Chief Michael Kelly told aldermen Tuesday.
Mayor Justin McKenzie asked Kelly to issue a press release once the cameras are in operation to let the public know the city is trying to be transparent.
“This is exactly what we’re doing and these are the things we’re putting in place, like the cameras, to secure the facts of any allegations that may be placed upon a person or an officer,” McKenzie said.
The city received word in March that it got a $9,700 grant to buy the cameras.
Officers will start recording with the cameras whenever they are interacting with the public and turn them off after the incident is over. When they turn them on and off is dictated by the department’s policy.
Kelly said they’re doing final programming so that the cameras operate the way policy says they should. That involves classifying each category of call, which tells the computer used to store the video footage how long to save it. For example, felony calls are saved forever, while traffic stops are deleted after a certain amount of time.
The chief said they expect to begin training with supervisors and training officers by the first of June. He said they’ll have a 90-day probationary period so they can work out bugs and training issues. Kelly said there are lots of rules they have to follow because the footage is evidence.
“When we roll them out, we want to make sure it’s rolled out right,” he said.
Police will use four cameras per shift while the other four are charging. Kelly said another grant is expected to come open soon to allow purchasing more so each officer will have their own. Kelly said he’s also talked with Columbia School District Superintendent Jason Harris about getting body cameras for the school resource officers and that Harris is considering purchasing those through the school district.
