15 H.B. police officers to try out body cameras

Some Huntington Beach police officers soon will be wearing video cameras to help the department keep pace with evolving police practices.

Chief Robert Handy told City Council members during a study session Monday that the department this month will launch a 90- to 180-day pilot program to equip 15 officers with differing types of cameras.

The department ordered five cameras from each of three companies — Taser, Vievu and WatchGuard — and will determine which works best. The pilot program, which costs $15,000, is being paid for by a state grant the department received, Handy said. It does not require council approval.

“We’re taking, what we think, are the top three companies in the market right now,” he said. “The technology is all different. Some have better cameras, some have better software, some have better systems for loading and storing the evidence … so we want to see which one’s the best one out there.”

Huntington Beach officers currently use digital audio recorders that they wear or carry, Handy said.

Recent studies have shown that using body-worn cameras has helped reduce the number of police use-of-force incidents, public complaints, assaults on officers and officer injuries, Handy said.

A 2013 study by the Rialto Police Department and Cambridge University determined that in a one-year period, complaints dropped 87.5% and use of force by officers declined 59% when officers wore body cameras.

“One would argue, anecdotally, [the decrease] just might be because the officer is less likely to use force because he’s wearing a camera,” Handy said. “I don’t think that’s the case. I think it’s more because of the effect that the camera has on other people’s behavior.”

City Atty. Michael Gates, who used to represent the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, said dash cameras installed in squad cars were effective tools when he was defending a case.

The Sheriff’s Department has started a body-camera pilot program, and the cities of Anaheim and Fullerton equip their officers with body cameras full-time.

Cost is a major issue that the Huntington Beach Police Department and some council members have with body cameras. . Police would have to spend about $125,000 for 150 cameras should they decide to fully deploy them.

Additionally, it would cost about $145,000 annually to store the cameras’ footage, Handy said.

Councilman Billy O’Connell said he thinks Handy’s cost estimates are low and he would rather have more officers than the cameras.

“I think we have more pressing issues in the city besides cameras,” O’Connell said.

Mayor Pro Tem Jim Katapodis, a retired Los Angeles Police Department sergeant, said he likes the idea of body cameras, but, like O’Connell, believes the money should be used to hire more officers.