05032017 - News Article - Portage police lukewarm on dashcams, body cameras

Portage police lukewarm on dashcams, body cameras
Chicago Tribune
May 03, 2017
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-portage-dashcam-eyed-st-0502-20170503-story.html

The Portage Police Department is taking another look at dashboard cameras, or dashcams, for its patrol units, but the department is not alone in Northwest Indiana in going without the controversial technology.

Portage tried dashcams until about 10 years ago, but a string of problems with the system ultimately crashed the idea, said police Chief Troy Williams, who is lukewarm at best on the idea.

"I've always stated I'm not against cameras, however, there's a lot of other factors that go into the decision," Williams said. "We've been moderately researching (returning to dashcams) among the many other tasks we have."

When it had dashcams, the Portage Police Department's system was prone to costly malfunctions and breakdowns, jeopardizing video and audio that were collected, Williams said.

In December 2015, Portage's Common Council almost unanimously shot down an ordinance calling for body cameras for its officers, but installing the recording technology on patrol cars took on new attention following the fatal police-involved shooting April 22 of Portage resident William Spates, 39, who had just been released from the county jail.

City Council President Mark Oprisko said he's "not opposed to looking into dash- or body cams," but finding a way to finance a camera system will be the key.

"It all comes down to money and costs," Oprisko said. "But, I know (Williams) has been looking into a lot of things, even before the (Spates) shooting."

Dashcam systems require expensive servers, storage systems and other hardware and software costs, and they raise issues of privacy rights, including how to handle video of police interactions with juveniles, Williams said.

"Obviously, we had this (shooting) incident, but the Portage Police Department is not the only department in the region that does not have dash- or body cams," he said. "They're not the end-all be-all. They obviously can play a role, but any police department would not be doing their due diligence researching before jumping into this blindly."

All of Hammond's police officers must wear body cameras provided by the department, and Hammond officers are required to record their conversations and interactions with civilians, said Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott.

Neither the Gary Police Department nor the Porter County sheriff's office has dashcams or body cameras, officials in those communities said.

Williams declined to comment on any details related to ongoing investigation of the Spates shooting incident, but he cautioned against relying on the technology.

"Cameras can be important, however, it's a small facet of recorded history," he said. "I don't know dashcams would prevent someone from trying to harm an officer or commit an infraction."