PORTAGE (WKZO-AM) — Portage Public Safety Chief Richard White said their department of public safety will be putting new body camera technology through its paces this summer to work out the bugs before they deploy it city-wide this year.
The agency wants to test the durability of the video equipment and develop policies for when to use them. They also want to determine if the cameras will be useful in providing verifiable information that can be used at trial and test methods for storage of all the video produced.
During the pilot, the department said there may be privacy issues that also have to be sorted out.
The city of Kalamazoo has already discussed whether it’s appropriate to run cameras while officers are in private homes, especially if those tapes can later be made public through the Freedom of Information Act.
White says they will be seeking public input on the program as they get closer to full deployment.
