Police body cameras not the focus in Porter County
Amy Lavalley
Post-Tribune
August 28, 2015 - 9:56PM
More than a year after highly publicized claims of police brutality began to unfold across the nation, law enforcement officials in Porter County are grappling with whether to purchase body cameras because of the expense of storing the data, among other concerns.
The Porter County Sheriff's Department purchased three cameras, known as body cams, about a year ago, though the timing was coincidental and not tied to events on the national scene, an official there said. The Portage and Valparaiso departments are still considering the matter.
"This has been a topic. We've talked to the sheriff about where does the money come from. Are there grants we can get?" said Jeff Biggs, commander of the sheriff's department. "There's a cost to even storing all the data."
The department wants to involve Porter County Prosecutor Brian Gensel in developing a policy for when officers should turn the cameras on and how long to store the data, but that discussion hasn't started because officials aren't sure the sheriff's department has the funding to purchase the cameras.
The department tried a few body cams out and some were bulky but more durable, while streamlined models were not as durable, Biggs said. The department purchased three of the bulkier ones about a year ago for $900 apiece.
The cameras sit in the center of an officer's chest and are turned on by a push button on the officer's belt. The cameras go on during traffic stops, warrant arrests and domestic violence calls – times when officers might be most vulnerable.
"Right now our guys have the discretion to turn the cameras on and off," Biggs said. The data is being stored on the external hard drives of two computers and none of the data is being deleted because it's only from three cameras.
If the department were to outfit all 45 of its patrol officers with body cams, Biggs said, it would have to come up with a better data storage plan.
Data storage also was an issue when the department had dashboard cameras in patrol cars, though those were vulnerable to extreme temperatures because much of the equipment was mounted in the cars' trunks. Potholes and rough railroad tracks also shook things up, making them prone to breakdowns, Biggs said.
The body cams are more durable and the department is looking into cloud storage for the data.
"This is something we plan on outfitting more officers with. It's a matter of funding," and coming up with a policy on usage and data storage, Biggs said.
The body cams offer a broader picture, literally, of what's going on, and officers can return to the station and easily view a digital recording of a call, Biggs said. "It's just about watching technology and what tools can help us do our job."
The Valparaiso Police Department has not made a decision on whether to go with body cams, said Sgt. Michael Grennes, that department's public information officer.
"We currently are not using them. We have looked into them and are still in the process of determining what we are going to do," he said. "We have tested them briefly with officers, but at this time we do not have any."
Myriad considerations go into deciding whether to purchase the cameras, said Portage Police Chief Troy Williams. Those include how to pay for them and maintenance costs; who gets them; chain of custody; privacy issues; how well the cameras record; and whether the department wants them for training, to check adherence to procedures, or because of complaints about use of force.
"For a department that routinely gets use-of-force complaints and is distrusted by their community, cameras would likely be a way to help some of that," he said. "We do not have those complaints and I believe we have a great relationship with our community."
His department had dashboard cameras about 10 years ago but had the same problems with them that the sheriff's department had. Body cams are something the department might look into for the future, he said, but they're not an imminent concern.
"There's a lot of factors the general public wouldn't necessarily know about that need to be researched," he said.
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