PENNSYLVANIA, USA — On Monday, the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) revealed a new pilot program that is helping it prepare for the use of body-worn cameras by its troopers department-wide.
"We’re very excited about embracing this technology as the Pennsylvania State Police move towards the future of law enforcement," said Colonel Christopher Paris, commissioner for the Pennsylvania State Police.
The 60-day pilot program began on July 24 at Troop H Carlisle. Carlisle was selected as the test location for its geographical mix of suburban and urban areas that best represents the communities the PSP serves.
The body-worn cameras are currently being tested by 43 troopers of varying ranks and positions to determine best practices, review existing policies, and identify additional resources before expanding the cameras to its 87 patrol stations.
"This will be a progressive rollout to the remaining 87 installations and the findings of the pilot program will be a key driver of allocating technological and policy resources," said Paris.
PSP officials say the new cameras will benefit the public.
"The public expects trustworthiness, transparency and professionalism from their law enforcement agencies," said Paris. "These cameras will capture more public interactions between troopers and citizens than ever before, while also serving to provide transparency to residents and visitors of the commonwealth."
They say it will also be an impactful resource for their law enforcement officers.
"Our troopers will benefit from the use of cameras while using the footage as evidence during criminal proceedings and using the camera to enhance officer safety," said Paris.
The planned implementation of body-worn cameras comes after Pa. State Trooper Jacques Rougeau Jr. was killed in June during a shootout that followed an ambush of the PSP’s Lewistown barracks. Officials stress the investigation into that incident would have benefitted greatly from the use of body-worn cameras.
"Along with the mobile video recording footage we have from that incident, it would only be enhanced and we see it as a tool that troopers rely on every day," said Paris.
The PSP entered a 5-year contract with Arizona-based company Axon to provide the body-worn cameras. The new tech is cloud-based and will automatically upload video to a database without any extra work from troopers who are using the body camera.
Following the conclusion of the 60-day pilot program, the PSP will review their current policies before rolling the body-worn cameras out department-wide.