CAMAS, Wash. — Officers at the Camas Police Department will be equipped with body cameras starting next week. When that happens, Camas will be the first city in Clark County to put them to use.
In November, city leaders invested more than $300,000 into the program, which includes 30 body-worn cameras and a system for managing the videos that those cameras record. The police department moved fast to build a program and find a vendor.
“It feels good. I’m proud of our community and city council and mayor for finding the funding source, and I think the agency is excited that we can make this happen," said Camas Police Chief Mitch Lackey.
The cameras are made by Axon, and they work in conjunction with Axon-brand tasers. When the taser is turned on, the camera will automatically start rolling. Unholstering a firearm does the same thing. Officers can also turn on the cameras anytime by tapping the record button.
Chief Lackey said the added transparency is good for officers and the people they serve. He said people have been supportive of the body camera program.
“And if anything, it will just help them to feel that we're accountable back to the community by having these cameras if there ever are questions about what transpired in an incident,” he said.
There are just a few hours of final training left before the cameras get put to use.
“I think it’s going to capture the 99.9% of the good police work that gets done out there every single day. And even those things that might not go perfect, you know, I think it will help tell the story in context of what did happen and allow people to see for themselves,” said Lackey.
It will also allow officers to learn from what they and their colleagues record.
A big part of the investment covers five years video storage for the footage that will be generated and redacting video clips as needed for public records requests.
Meanwhile, the Vancouver Police Department is still working on getting its body camera program started later this year. Efforts for a Clark County Sheriff's Office body camera program have slowed down because voters turned down funding for it last November.
Lackey hopes more agencies get support for body camera programs of their own.
“It’s not a small amount of money to buy into the whole program. So for those agencies that are maybe a little bit behind us, I’m hopeful that their communities are somehow able to find that funding.”
