GEORGETOWN -- In Georgetown it's no longer just your word against the officer's when it comes to figuring out what happened during run-ins with the law.
The Georgetown Police Department is now the largest agency in the nation to require all officers to wear body cameras.
Georgetown police using cameras to help resolve disputes KVUE
For Officer David Scurlock, the camera on his chest eliminates the human error of memory. As soon as he exits his car, he turns it on, and it records every incident.
"You play that for a judge or a jury and it's that person on camera, giving you a statement right at the time of the incident, and you can't refute that," he said.
The police department first purchased more than 75 cameras last year in an effort to increase transparency, and to easily resolve 'he said she said' conversations. Each costs about $900.
"It helps across the board on accountability to hold the community accountable, and it also helps to hold the department and the officers accountable," Police Captain Roland Waits said.
Georgetown Police Captain Roland Waits uses the shooting in Ferguson, Missouri as an example. He said if the department there had cameras, all of the uncertainty could have been avoided.
"I think it would be very valuable because you could immediately either support or dispel the information that's out there," Waits said.
Last year a study on the Rialto Police Department in California found when officers wear cameras, the number of instances involving force decreased nearly 60 percent. Overall the department saw an 88 percent decrease in the number of complaints filed over a 12 month period.
For Scurlock, and his fellow officers, it's an added layer of protection.
"Sometimes it just makes you feel better about doing your job knowing that it's on camera," he said.
Source : http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2014/08/19/georgetown-police-using-cameras-to-help-resolve-disputes/14313847/
