Southlake police now wearing body cameras
If you get pulled over by Southlake police, chances are your interaction with the officer will be recorded.
This month, Southlake patrol officers started wearing new body cameras that are synced to the new dash cameras in the vehicle.
The city purchased 20 of the body cameras from Allen-based Watchguard along with 26 dash cameras, 21 for patrol vehicles and five for motorcycles. The new equipment cost $194,000, funded by the city’s Crime Control and Prevention District half-cent sales tax.
Councilman Shahid Shafi said both new cameras are a "great addition" to the city’s police force.
Southlake joins Mansfield, Fort Worth, Arlington and other North Texas departments that are getting the cameras. The ability to record an officer’s point of view has become critical in a world where anybody can shoot amateur video from a mobile device.
These videos quickly go viral and end up being shown on media broadcasts nationwide. However, the videos don’t always show what initiated the incident—it typically shows what happens when things escalate.
Southlake’s Vista HD cameras will use new technology that integrates the video from the dash cameras with what the one the officer is wearing.
"When both those videos hit the server, they link together so we can see both views of the event," said Southlake Police Chief James Brandon.
The cameras are rugged and designed to be used in all weather. An upgrade, which will be done next month, will sync the microphone on the body camera with the dash camera, eliminating the need for officers to wear a separate microphone on the belt, Brandon explained.
The microphone has a two-mile range so it can record officers when they are in pursuit away from the vehicle. The dash camera records in high definition and automatically knows to record dedicated events, such as a traffic stop.
During routine driving, the video from the dash camera is temporarily stored for a day or two before it’s written over. That way, officers can go back and find video, such as a suspect vehicle, Brandon explained.
The body cameras are held on with magnets and pins so they can be worn anywhere on the torso. They can record up to 9 hours of continuous high definition video.
With the previous technology, police officers had to wait for the video to download and physically burn it to a DVD as evidence for the case. Now, it’s all digital using servers the city bought from Watchguard.
Though Southlake used CCPD funds, many area cities are using state and federal grants approved in the wake of the high-profile police shootings.
These dash and body cameras are in addition to the new surveillance cameras being installed inside and outside of Southlake Town Hall. The city is also hiring a private security firm that will have an armed guard stationed at a kiosk inside Town Hall to monitor the cameras.
This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 6:57 PM with the headline "Southlake police now wearing body cameras."