Police body cameras in Toledo are back.
More than six months after the Toledo Police Department returned all of its body cameras because of technical difficulties, the department is now issuing new ones from a different company to all of its operations officers and, eventually, all of its command staff as well.
The 311 Getac body cameras were purchased with grant funding that paid for the original cameras last year, said police Lt. Kevan Toney, a department spokesman. The cameras cost about $228,000 and began to be issued to patrol officers last week.
Officers will turn the cameras on during almost all interactions with the public, police Chief George Kral said. The only time they wouldn’t turn them on is at a hospital, to avoid patient privacy complaints. The cameras are also synchronized to the lights and sirens on patrol cars, which means the cameras automatically turn on when the lights and sirens are activated.
“They’re much more user-friendly,” Chief Kral said of the new cameras.
The old cameras, he said, were returned because of technical issues, such as not holding a charge and compatibility problems with downloading and storage. The manufacturer wouldn’t fix them, he said, so the department returned the cameras in April with a full refund after using them for almost six months. Since then, members of the department have been field-testing different models before purchasing the latest cameras.
Officer Brian Young said he was happy about the cameras because they protect both civilians and police.
“It provides better transparency,” he said. “If we did something wrong, I can guarantee the chief will correct that.”
The new cameras also come with GPS capabilities, which allow officers to trace where they’ve been once the camera has been docked at the station and the footage downloaded, Officer Don Bryan said.
Officers can’t follow their routes in real time, but the camera software will allow them to see where they were. If they were pursuing a suspect on foot, for example, and weren’t paying attention to the route they were taking, the camera records all of that.
“It shows where you were at each point in time,” he said.
Chief Kral said he believes the new cameras will be beneficial for everyone in the community.
“It’ll make sure the truth is out there,” he said.
First Published November 20, 2018, 5:24 p.m.