Photo by Daniel Jackovino Police Capt. Sean Quinn wears a body camera.
Police Capt. Sean Quinn wears a body camera.
GLEN RIDGE, NJ — The Glen Ridge Police Department is currently testing body cameras. The instruments are being worn by a number of officers on daytime patrol. According to Capt. Sean Quinn, the pilot program began July 15. He said in September the trial will expand to include a number of officers on night patrols. However, a camera for each officer on the force has been purchased.
“We phasing in slowly,” Quinn said. “There are a lot of questions and a learning curve. The questions are not technical.”
Quinn is the technical officer of the day shift. That is why the trial period began with the day patrol, in the event there were any technical questions.
But the questions have not been technical but about the use of a recording as a piece of evidence. Other questions have been about record preservation.
The body camera is connected to a recorder by a flexible cable and is about the size of a matchbook, only thicker. The recorder fits into a shirt pocket.
When they were first tried out, the recorder was in a carrier attached to the pants. But Quinn said the officers did not like this, preferring to place the recorder in the shirt pocket.
Quinn said the officer wearing the camera will activate it by pressing a button on the camera or if the police car lights are flashing, the camera activates automatically. The dashboard camera in a patrol car is activated at the same time.
“The main thing is when to use or not use the body camera,” Quinn said. “Our policy is that everytime we come into contact with the public. We’ll refine what contact with the public means.”
Quinn said there are times when a member of the public will ask that they not be recorded.
“The officers does not have to comply,” he said. “We want the cameras to protect the officers.”
At other times, confidentiality must be considered if the camera should be activated or not.
“We’re working through that,” he said. “A police officer can be wearing one in the hospital but not activated.”
Quinn said the camera would be activated in a hospital only if there was a criminal investigation taking place in the hospital. That any recordings can become evidence is a concern to the police.
“We labeling them if there are any confidentiality issues,” he said. “And OPRA requests are another kink we’re working through.”
Also, cameras are not used when working around children.
The GRPD officers like the idea of the body cameras.
“No more, he said, she said,” according to Quinn.
If a crime should occur, all relevant footage will be reviewed. Quinn said there are instances when a suspect is picked up on a recording. But the body camera cannot be secreted away to “spy” on anyone. It has to be worn.
How long a recording is kept vary.
“Right now, everything gets archived,” Quinn said. “That is subject to change.”
Patrol sergeants will randomly check recordings to see how an officer is interacting with the public and to see if the officer is reacting in the proper way for their own safety, according to Quinn.
“So far, no issues,” Quinn said.
He said an officer wearing a body camera should forewarn a member of the public that they are being recorded.
“The NJ Division of Criminal Justice recommends that,” Quinn said.
A recorder can store 12 hours of recordings, the battery lasts for 12 hours without recharging, and a patrol shift is for 12 hours.
“It works well for us,” Quinn said.
After roll call, the officers assigned a body camera picks it up at a docking station, where later on, recordings are uploaded.
The cameras were paid in part by a $9,000 grant through the NJ Office of the Attorney General.
The GRPD also has voluntary registration of homeowners with security cameras.
“Those cameras have helped us regularly with detection,” Quinn said. “Most often, it’s car burglaries. We’ll canvass the area for homeowners. That’s why we ask for volunteer security information.”
About the Author
