BATTLE GROUND, Wash. — All officers with the Battle Ground Police Department will begin wearing body cameras starting Oct. 7, the city said in a statement Tuesday.
Battle Ground City Council approved buying the cameras on May 6, using city funds and around $67,000 from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) Body-Worn Camera Grant Program.
“I am incredibly grateful to our city council and our city leadership team for their support to bring body worn cameras to Battle Ground," said Battle Ground Police Chief Dennis Flynn in a statement. “We are confident that this new tool will assist with fostering a deeper level of trust between our officers and the community we serve."
The city touted bodycams as providing better transparency, accountability and public confidence in policing, while also strengthening investigations by providing additional evidence and enhancing the safety of interactions between officers and the public.
Many cities and counties in Oregon and Washington now have body-worn cameras, including Portland, where police began wearing bodycams earlier this summer after years of delay.
