Wyn Delano
WMAL.com
(WMAL) — Prince William County Police are set to equip their officers with nearly 500 body cameras this fall.
Chief of Police Barry Barnard told the Prince William Board of County Supervisors June 1st that the Department has signed a contract with Axon – also known as Taser – to purchase cameras that will be given to officers in the field.
“The whole purpose of the program, of course – as we’ve discussed before – is to continue to build trust in the community,” Chief Barnard said.
Body camera programs have become very popular in police forces around the country as a way to promote accountability after several high profile and racially charged officer-involved shooting incidents swept the country.
Prince William PD has been eyeing these cameras for some time, however, running a 60-day pilot program with 30 cameras back in the summer of 2016.
The success of that program gave the board of Supervisors enough confidence to allow Chief Barnard to negotiate with Axon, as well as to provide additional funding for the effort.
The implementation of the cameras is also being done in a slightly novel way, with the cameras being phased in gradually as each officer receives training.
“Right after Labor Day we’ll begin the training. Officers will attend training and as they complete that training – the day of the training they will leave with their body worn camera and they will begin to use their body worn camera the next time they come to work,” Chief Barnard said.
The Police also hope to educate the public on the cameras even before they hit the streets with community meetings and a dedicated website planned to handle comments and questions.
Chief Barnard, however, tempered expectations – explaining that the program will need to grow and change based on the response from the community:
“We may stub our toe. We may say we’ve got to tweak the policy. But we’ll learn together,” he said.
Copyright 2017 WMAL.com All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Pixabay)
