COUNTYWIDE : Video Cameras Are a Hit With Officers

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but in court a videotape is worth a lot more than that, Orange County sheriff’s officials say.

Six months ago, the Sheriff’s Department decided to install video recorders in its entire patrol fleet, becoming one of the first law enforcement agencies in the nation to do so. Most of the cars have now been outfitted with the cameras, and so far the program is being hailed as a powerful tool in both the courtroom and out in the field.

“It’s been a real boon,” Sheriff’s Capt. Doug Storm said. “It’s an indisputable, accurate witness to what occurred. This is really the up-and-coming thing for the 1990s in law enforcement.”

The cameras are paying off in saved time and money and are also making deputies more efficient, Storm added.

Storm said that in one recent incident, an auto theft suspect crashed his vehicle and sprinted away. A deputy ran after and apprehended the suspect but did not realize there was a passenger in the car. The deputy’s video camera captured the passenger as he fled.

Other deputies reviewed the tape and the passenger was found three hours later. Storm said that without the video, they probably would never have been able to find the passenger or place him at the scene.

Unruly or uncooperative suspects often choose to cooperate once they are informed that a video camera and microphone are gathering evidence. In one instance, a suspected drunk driver refused to cooperate with officers in a field sobriety test. Told that he was being taped, the man’s demeanor changed suddenly and he said: “OK, take me in. I’m drunk,” according to Storm.

The cameras, which cost $5,200 each, can be turned on by deputies manually but they also switch on automatically when the patrol car’s emergency lights are activated. Deputies also wear wireless microphones to provide audio recordings. All the videotapes include an electronic code that inputs the time and date to ensure that the evidence is tamper-proof.

The department also uses the videotapes to review and critique the way deputies perform during traffic stops and other procedures.