The Bremerton Police Department is the latest to consider what’s becoming a trend: police officers on patrol wearing small video cameras.
The idea is that cameras protect citizens and officers alike, since there’s a record of what actually happened instead of “he said, she said.”
Here’s what the Bremerton police told Q13 TV about their decision to use cameras:
Police Lt. Peter Fisher said the department wants to purchase the cameras after testing them out earlier this year.
“We are always working on building that public trust and that transparency and this is just another mechanism to do that,” said Fisher.
The State Patrol has used dash cameras for years, and the Seattle Police Department is among those considering cameras.
With national attention on police troubles in Ferguson, Missouri, cameras are seen by advocates as a tool to prevent problems from escalating, gather more evidence of crimes, protect citizens from being hurt, and also protect officers from baseless claims.
Although opponents of cameras worry that cameras reduce an already shrinking right to privacy.