Syracuse Police Department Completes Executive Order No. 1 Action #4: Acquisition Of Body-Worn Cameras

Syracuse NY

06 November, 2020

11:28 AM

Description

Press release from the City of Syracuse: November 3 2020 On June 19, Mayor Ben Walsh issued the Syracuse Police Reform Executive Order No. 1 Action #4. The fourth action in the Mayor's first Executive Order called for the completion of the Syracuse Police Department's efforts to "obtain additional body-worn cameras so that all uniformed officers assigned to patrol or who otherwise respond to citizen calls will be equipped with body-worn cameras. Field Testing and Training on Body-Worn Cameras After testing three models of body-worn cameras with Axon, the Syracuse Police Department decided to enter into a contract with Axon for its compatibility, functionality, and durability. The department entered into a five-year contract with Axon for 220 of its next generation 'Body 3' body-worn cameras as of July 31, 2020. Upon receiving shipment of the body-worn cameras, the Syracuse Police Department Information Technology Division worked to both register all 220 body-worn cameras to individual officers, and make certain they were compatible with the Onondaga Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. Syracuse Police officers demonstrating wear of Axon Body 3 body-worn cameras. Once the registration and compatibility were completed, Syracuse Police began training groups of uniformed patrol officers on the functional nuances of the specific model of body-worn camera as well as the Syracuse Police Department's current body-worn camera policy. The duration of training ranges from 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on whether the officer being trained had operated a previous version of the Axon body-worn camera Syracuse Police used on a trial basis. The training consisted of two instructional components: First, the Officers were trained via a PowerPoint demonstration from Axon that carefully exhibited and explained each component and nuance of the 'Body 3' body-worn camera. Second, Officers carefully reviewed and discussed the Syracuse Police Department's current body-worn Camera policy. As of Monday, October 26, Syracuse Police has successfully deployed 203 of the total 220 'Body 3' body-worn cameras. The next steps for completing full implementation of body-worn cameras to the Syracuse Police Department include: Successfully deploying the remaining 17 'Body 3 body-worn cameras'. Securing additional funding of $140,000 to allow the department to outfit uniformed Sergeants with 'Body 3' body-worn cameras. Launching the Axon Performance program which is an automated auditing system that monitors body-worn camera usage and other factors to gauge compliance with SPD's Body Worn Camera Policy. Budgeting for additional positions to both monitor and manage the administrative functions of the Body-Worn Camera Program (i.e. Freedom of Information Law requests, crime scene investigation, monitoring of compliance, performance and training issues, etc.) Stay connected+ on Police Reform Executive Order progress by sign up for email updates →. This press release was produced by the City of Syracuse. The views expressed here are the author's own.