Snellville police responded Wednesday to the Obama administration’s $263 million proposal to provide body cameras for the nation’s police departments. Snellville police began more than five years ago to buy body cameras and now have 46 VIEVU body cameras and dashboard cameras in all of its vehicles, enough for every officer. Like a bulletproof vest and handcuffs, the cameras are part of an officer’s standard equipment.
“The events in Ferguson, Missouri, didn’t make our decision,” Police Chief Roy Whitehead said of the department’s usage of body cameras. “This is something we’ve been working toward for a long time.”
The videos are used in collecting evidence for court cases and when investigating complaints. “Where we’ve had a video, we’ve been exonerated in all complaints,” Whitehead said. “We train our officers to believe they are being recorded all the time whether or not they are recording interactions.”
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