By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The St. Joseph Police Department is getting new body and dash cameras for officers.
Police Chief Paul Luster says the reception to the new cameras has been positive, and while there might have been hesitancy at first from officers, they now realize how valuable the devices are
"A device that overwhelmingly protects them, protects them from false complaints, false perceptions even,” Luster tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr. “You have this high-definition camera and microphone that’s on your body, that is unbiased.”
Luster says the new technology will help provide transparency and accountability for the department.
"Of course, when you do that, you have the opportunity to build public trust,” Luster explains. “But just the things maybe the common citizen doesn’t think about, we can use them for a training tool, where we can review footage and really, I say we will Monday morning quarterback an incident, and people are like well why would you do that, and I say well any good team looks at game film to get better.”
Luster says another use for the new cameras is training opportunities
"To just go through situations and debrief situations, the system has the ability where we can livestream, so if it’s a critical event, a supervisor or command staff that’s not even on scene yet can livestream a feed from the officer right on the computer in their car or in their office,” Luster says. “So just lots of ways to really enhance our operations here at the police department.”
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