Capture any angle: Indiana State Police Trooper Jan Dravigne demonstrates how his in-car camera can be turned to capture various angles on Friday at the Tribune-Star. The camera panel is at far left. Tribune-Star/Joseph C. Garza
Wabash Valley police agencies say they welcome video recording of their activities as a way to protect officers from accusations of misconduct.
Looming questions about why a Ferguson, Mo., teenager was shot multiple times by a police officer last weekend added fuel to the sometimes violent protests that erupted in that St. Louis suburb. An attorney for the slain teen’s family has called for anyone with a cell phone camera video recording of the incident to step forward.
If you interact with police in west central Indiana, odds are you will not be caught on a police video recording. The Vigo County Sheriff’s Department and the Indiana State Police have only a small percentage of their vehicles outfitted with dashboard cameras. The Terre Haute Police Department currently has none.
But the few cameras out there are seen as an asset to police, area law enforcement officials said Friday.
“I like it a lot,” said Deputy Scott Woelfle of the Vigo County Sheriff’s Department, who drives one of just three department cars equipped with a dashboard camera. “It’s a great resource. Not only for protection, but as a training tool.” Protection from what? False accusations of police misconduct, he said.
The small, digital camera lens is mounted near the car’s rearview mirror facing forward. Mounted a few inches away is a small TV monitor. The camera can be rotated 360 degrees and has zoom-in capability. It starts recording automatically when the vehicle brakes suddenly or when Woelfle activates the emergency lights.
“It’s a great asset,” he said.
The Indiana State Police have relatively few dashboard cameras in their statewide-fleet of 1,200 cars, said Capt. David Bursten, chief public information officer for the ISP. One of those cars is operated by Trooper Yan Dravigne of the Putnamville Post, who spoke to the Tribune-Star Friday. “It’s a good tool to review what’s happened” after an incident, Dravigne said.
His in-car camera is also mounted near the rearview mirror of his white ISP car. It records images and sound to a compact disc, as opposed to a digital card, as in the sheriff’s department car. There is an in-car microphone that allows for conversations inside the vehicle to be recorded, he said. Like the sheriff’s department camera, the ISP camera is also activated any time the car brakes suddenly or the emergency lights are activated.
If digital recordings contain information related to an arrest, they are kept as evidence in the same way a gun, knife or pair of gloves from a crime scene would be, said Clark Cottom, chief deputy at the sheriff’s department.
“We believe the video cameras are a very good tool,” Cottom said. Deputies are unable to erase or alter the recordings, he said.
In-car cameras, which cost about $4,000 apiece, protect citizens, officers and the sheriff’s department, Cottom said. The three currently in use have been placed in the cars of deputies most likely to respond to incidents, he said. “We wish we had 30 of them,” he said. None of the area police agencies said they object to citizens using cell phone cameras or other cameras to record their activities, as long as they are on public property and not in the way.
“That’s legal,” said Capt. David Barnett of the Terre Haute Police Department. “We’ve let every officer know that,” he said. “We’re always professional,” regardless of whether a video camera is rolling or not, he said. The ISP’s Bursten agreed.
“If you are a citizen, and you are in a place where the public is allowed to be, you can record to your heart’s content,” he said.
In some parts of the U.S., such as New York City, police even wear cameras on their uniforms. According to the Washington Post, police in Rialto, Calif. started wearing cameras in 2012, and complaints filed against officers dropped by nearly 90 percent compared to the previous year. Use of force by officers dropped by nearly 60 percent, the Post reported.
There are no personal cameras or “body cameras” issued by the Terre Haute, Vigo County or Indiana State Police, but their use is also not prohibited if officers want to buy their own, police officials said.
“There’s probably going to come a time when they are as common as a bullet proof vest,” Cottom said. “And I think that’s a good thing.”
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