Advertisement Cincinnati D3 officers to wear cameras as part of pilot program Officers will wear cameras, record all interactions Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The Cincinnati Police Department is introducing a pilot program where officers will use body cameras in the field to record various responses on emergency calls.About a dozen District 3 officers will start wearing the cameras on their lapels starting Monday.Watch this storyThe department chose District 3 because there's a lot of activity and to gauge how effective the cameras will be.For the 30-day pilot program, the cameras will record officers’ interactions with citizens. Body cameras give a direct view of what officers see in dangerous situations.“It’s to make the officers safer, to make the community safer. It’s another avenue of transparency in the agency,” Lt. Terri Theetge said.For foot chases, traffic stops, body searches, prisoner transports, the cameras record what traditional dash cameras might not see.“Right now, if an officer gets involved in a critical incident or any type of incident technology is everywhere. People pull out cellphones you have video cameras mounted different places a lot of the times it only gets the reaction,” Theetge said.Officers are not required to tell you they're wearing the cameras because, according to the CPD Body Worn Camera Systems Pilot Program guide, there isn't "a reasonable expectation of privacy" while interacting with the officer. The video recordings will be kept for 90 days.The technology is part of Chief Jeffrey Blackwell's four areas to improve safety in Cincinnati."It’s been proven empirically that body cameras improve people’s behavior,” Blackwell said. “So if we can work through some of the logistical issues of when to turn them on, how to store data, how to retrieve data.”CPD will not be the first Tri-State force with the devices. The Covington Police Department added lapel cameras in 2010.“The younger officers, technology is their world anyway, so to them, this is nothing new,” Theetge said. “It’s just another similar to everything that they wear on their tool belt that they’ll be able to use.”The Fraternal Order of Police said it will be researching concerns the cameras have had in the past. The ACLU told WLWT they support the program 100 percent.This is the second time CPD will try this pilot program. The last time was in 2010.If CPD decides to keep the cameras, they'll have to figure out how to pay for them.