Morristown officers begin wearing body cameras

MORRISTOWN – Police in town have become some of the first in the state to wear video cameras while on patrol.

"This is the right time to deploy this important initiative," Mayor Tim Dougherty said at a news conference. "In addition to supporting the safety of residents, the department and administration are looking for this effort to help improve relations with the community, reduce the number of instances where force is required, lower the number of citizen complaints, and provide a more factual account of interactions between citizens and police officers."

Dougherty said he and Police Chief Peter Demnitz have been exploring the idea since 2012.

After participating in the Urban Mayor's Roundtable in September 2014 – which included officials from Paterson, Newark, and Jersey City among others - Dougherty decided the body cameras would be a good way to address safety concerns.

Demnitz said the police department has been monitoring development of the technology in recent years, and based its implementation on a study of a similar rollout in the Rialto, Calif. Police Department.

"In 32 years of policing I wish that there were more times when police action was recorded," Demnitz said. "Because I believe that the national debate and the local debate about police action would be a lot different if there was police recording. It's a lot better when you can debate facts versus conjecture and speculation."

The 40 body cameras cost Morristown about $40,000 as each L3 BodyVision camera cost just under $1,000.

Detective Brendan Briscoe and Officer James Krauss modeled the cameras Tuesday morning. About the size of a pager, the black rectangular device will sit on the center of the officer's chest, clipped onto the uniform. A green line will indicate when the camera is recoding.

The body cameras can integrate with existing video recording equiment used in patrol cars. With a 16 gigabyte hard drive, they can hold about four hours of footage and need to be turned on manually by the officer. At the end of a shift, the camera will be "docked" and footage will upload to the police department's database automatically.

The rollout will begin with two cameras in use per shift before expanding to more officers. There is a camera purchased for each officer in the department.

"This is an emerging technology with huge potential" Detective Lt. Stuart Greer said. I'm excited to see how it affects the community going forward."

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said his municipality has a request for proposal out for body cameras in Jersey City, but praised Morristown for being the first town from the Urban Mayor's Roundtable to implement the program.

"That they could get over the goal line on this is significant because it's not easy," Fulop said. "Newark, Jersey City, and Paterson have taken the steps of going out to [request for proposal] to do the same thing and once again follow the lead of Mayor Dougherty to purchase body cameras for our departments as well."

While others in the state may have body cameras, Fulop said Morristown will be the first in New Jersey to outfit an entire police department.

"Body cameras are a way of the future and another tool on how to interact with the public and law enforcement," Dougherty said. "Those who pay attention to the landscape, this is where we are going. We must constantly implement new preventative measure to maintain the public safety of our town."

Dougherty said the initiative was years in the making and was not a reaction to any specific situation. He also stressed Morristown's crime rate reduction of 50 percent in the past decade.

Video from body-worn cameras will be available to the public through Open Public Records Act requests.

The Rev. Robert Rodgers, speaking on behalf of Morristown's Interfaith Clergy Council, said he hopes the cameras improve the relationship between police and the community, improve police accountability, and help to overcome stereotypes and racism.

Wind of the Spirit, a Morristown-based advocacy group for immigrants, expressed privacy concerns with the body cameras.

"Can they now film on private property and anyone can get those videos?" Wind of the Spirit's Renata Mauriz said. "There's a concern of when the cameras will be on and off.

At the same time Mauriz hoped that access to the video footage would be as easily obtainable as the town said it would be.

"But I do see this as a tool to promote broader reform," Mauriz said.

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com