Paterson to require police to wear body cameras in 2020

Paterson is on the verge of joining numerous other cities that require police officers to wear body cameras.

Paterson officers could begin wearing the cameras by spring through a proposed deal in which the city would spend about $600,000 to purchase 150 of the devices, along with video storage capacity, officials said.

The impending purchase of the equipment represents a stark contrast to the position city officials took several years ago when they declined state funding that would have paid for 20 police body cameras. At that time, city officials said storing the video footage would be too expensive.

Police Chief Troy Oswald said the recent federal convictions of seven rogue Paterson cops spurred his efforts to work out a body camera deal that the city could afford.

“If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is a video worth?” said Oswald. “We want to be transparent. We want to get at the truth, whatever it is.”

Oswald said the body cameras would be assigned to every patrol officer. He said officers in the traffic division may get them as well. Under the initial plan, narcotics detectives and other plainclothes officers would not get the cameras because they deal with confidential informants and witnesses, the chief said.

Mayor Andre Sayegh made the acquisition of the body cameras one of his priorities when he took office 18 months ago.

“Body cameras will be positive tools for both residents and police officers, as these cameras will demonstrate the great work of our honorable police, as well as root out any inappropriate behavior by rogue officers,” the mayor said.

“The cameras will also demonstrate the challenging situations faced by our officers every day,” Sayegh added.

The department has about 370 officers.

Zellie Thomas, one of the founders of the city’s Black Lives Matter group, said he would like to see every Paterson cop equipped with a body camera.

“It’s just not the police officers on patrol involved in the allegations of misconduct,” Thomas said. “Sometimes it’s the plainclothes officers as well. We have to be able to hold every officer accountable.”

Thomas said equipping officers with the cameras would not be fully effective unless the city adopted policies for their use to ensure accountability. For example, Thomas said, some cities delay making public video recordings from body cameras on the grounds that they are evidence in ongoing criminal investigations.

Thomas said some cities and police departments also allow officers to view the recordings before they write up their reports on controversial incidents. He said that practice can allow unscrupulous officers to craft accounts of the incidents to fit what is seen on the videos, and perhaps leave out important details that transpired off-camera.

Oswald said Paterson would adopt body camera policies in line with the New Jersey Attorney General’s guidelines for the devices’ use.

Mason Maher, president of the union that represents Paterson’s ranking police officers, said he doesn’t foresee any opposition from his group.

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“We view it as just another useful tool for doing our job,” Maher said.

But Maher said his organization views the policies regarding camera use as something that needs to be discussed with the union. In particular, the union wants officers to be allowed to view recordings before they are required to file reports on controversial incidents so that the reports can be as accurate as possible, he said.

“We’re trying to protect the officers’ rights,” Maher said.

Oswald said the city council’s public safety committee gave its support to the body camera purchase plan during its meeting last month. The chief said he plans to bring one of the body cameras to Tuesday’s public safety committee for a presentation on the proposed purchase from Axon Enterprise Inc. of Scottsdale, Arizona, with a possible vote taking place the following week.

A year ago, Sayegh cited the body cameras as one of his tools for building trust between city residents and Paterson police officers. The mayor also promised an audit of the police department and the creation of a civilian board to monitor law enforcement officers.

City officials are reviewing bids for the audit and may award that contract within the next two months, said the mayor’s chief of staff, Kathleen Long.

Meanwhile, Paterson is awaiting the outcome of a legal battle over Newark’s civilian police review board before creating its own panel. The Newark case would set guidelines on the extent of the investigatory powers of civilian police boards, such as whether they could subpoena witnesses and documents, officials said.

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