Smile, you're on cop cam: Police buying body-worn cameras

Police Chief Dale Call reads his request for $20,000 funding to purchase up to 15 body-worn video cameras for police officers during Wednesday's Board of Finance meeting. Police Chief Dale Call reads his request for $20,000 funding to purchase up to 15 body-worn video cameras for police officers during Wednesday's Board of Finance meeting. Photo: Anne M. Amato Photo: Anne M. Amato Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Smile, you're on cop cam: Police buying body-worn cameras 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

WESTPORT -- The Police Department plans to buy as many as 15 body-worn video cameras for patrol officers.

The $20,000 to purchase the cameras, which cost about $900 each, was unanimously approved Wednesday night by the Board of Finance. The money will be transferred from the Police Department's asset forfeiture account to the general fund -- police cameras account.

The funds will also be used for licensing costs and any additional related costs, Police Chief Dale Call told the finance board Wednesday.

He said the cameras can help to protect officers from false complaints filed against them. "We have had several in the past few years," he said.

Call added the cameras also serve as a tool for effective policing because they "make us more transparent."

John Pincavage, the finance panel chairman, asked if the body-worn cameras are like something the actor Sylvester Stallone would use in a movie.

They are "smaller than a pack of cigarettes," Call responded, adding that the devices are pinned on an officer's uniform. He said they are "fairly indestructible."

He said the cameras that the department plans to purchase are the "most fool-proof equipment we have tested." The only thing, he said, is that officers using them must remember to turn them on.

"But what if the officer forgets to activate" the camera, finance member Lee Caney asked.

Call said he thinks officers would remember to do that since "they know the cameras are protecting them."

"If someone forgets to turn it on, people could have a field day with that," cautioned Tom Lasersohn, finance board member.

Call said the cameras will be part of a pilot program with a cross-section of officers using them. He said they will also be looking into policies for their use, in particular any privacy issues.

"This is really a good plan," Lasersohn said.

"If they could avoid one lawsuit, then we will make back most of the money," added Pincavage.

The finance board Wednesday also approved an appropriation of $23,399 requested by Barbara Butler, the town's human services director.

She said the money would be used to address employee safety and security concerns. The money will go for new doors with glass windows, she said. She said when social workers "close doors" to deal with clients, they are put into a vulnerable situation.

"Some (of the clients) have mental health and substance abuse issues" and while the social worker needs privacy when dealing with clients, "they also need to be safe," Butler told the board.

She said glass windows will help others on the staff monitor potentially dangerous situations. She said the department also is considering installing "panic buttons" in the future.