The Connecticut State Police, a division of the CT Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP), announced that the department has purchased 800 body-worn cameras (BWC) to equip all patrol troopers. The equipment will be distributed statewide beginning this summer.
"Across the country, state and local police depaltments are striving to build trust and foster transparency, the foundational principles of positive relationships between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve and protect, said Dora Schriro, Commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, "We believe equipping all of our troopers on patrol with body-worn cameras equipment will contribute to our conversations with everyone we encounter, strengthen troopers' relationships with their communities, and through the feedback that the cameras provide, support and sustain our steadfast commitment towards continuous improvement."
Upon passage of June Special Session Public Act 15-4, An Act Concerning Excessive Use of Force, DESPP convened several working groups to ensure successful implementation of the law and met each of the requirements set out in statute:
Commence training in the use of physical force, the use of body worn recording equipment, cultural competency and sensitivity, and bias-free policing: October 1, 2015.
Develop and implement guidelines pertaining to the use of BWCs, retention of data and methods for safe and secure storage of data: January 1, 2016.
Draft minimal technical specifications pertaming to BWCs and back-end storage: January 1, 2016.
To supplement the cost of the BWCs and ensure full implementation at the earliest oppoltunity, DESPP also applied for and received $895,000 in U.S. Department of Justice grant nuncling.
As BWCs are relatively new to the marketplace and are rapidly evolving, DESPP field-tested several types of equipment in order to make the most effective use of state resources. Before making a final purchase, the agency tested different makes and models of BWC equipment at Troops I-I-Hartford and K-Colchester to asceltain their viability on a variety of posts, under various lighting and weather conditions, and in urban, suburban and rural settings.
The Panasonic BWCs that the DESPP selected will integrate into the CSP dashboard camera solution already in place in all patrol vehicles. The B WCs will also leverage existing infrastructure of software, storage, networking and wireless connectivity as a starting point for the additional collection of B WC videos.
The deployment schedule will roll out in four phases lasting about two months each. Troop VI-Hartford and Troop I-Bethany will be the first to receive 100 BWCs each mid-summer 2018. DESPP expects all troops to be equipped with BWCs next spring 2019.