LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has launched a body worn camera pilot program at four patrol stations: Lancaster Station, Temple Station, Century Station, and Carson Station.
The six month pilot program, which was formally initiated Sept. 1, 2014, will evaluate the feasibility of utilizing a Body Worn Camera System for Sheriff’s Department personnel to record interactions with citizens, the specifications for the procurement of a Body Worn Camera System device, file management software, cloud-based storage solution and an evaluation of future Department policy.
The pilot program will also identify the strengths and weaknesses associated with the use of a Body Worn Camera System in a law enforcement capacity.
The Deputies who participate in this pilot program are voluntary. Each Deputy will be provided training on the use of the device, maintenance, uploading video files, retrieving video files for viewing and evidence and protocols for utilization. Deputies will provide weekly evaluations to the Department project manager about their experiences and opinions.
A total of 96 Body Worn Camera System devices will be issued to Department personnel. The devices will also be tested in several side-by-side comparison tests by the Department’s Training Bureau.
At the end of the test phase, which concludes on March 1, 2015, the Sheriff’s Department will prepare an assessment report and recommendation for potential future procurement and deployment of a Body Worn Camera System by Sheriff’s Department personnel.
“The Body Worn Camera system is the next step in the modern evolution of law enforcement technology. Just as radios and computers have become common place in law enforcement, these camera systems will be utilized by law enforcement as a matter of routine,” stated Project Director Chief Bob Denham. “The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is systematically researching and testing these systems as well as developing policies and a process to manage the thousands of hours of video data that will be collected each year that will be needed in future law enforcement efforts.”
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AVHC says
Oink oink. Bacon vision is now in progress.
Rick says
The videos will only be a one way street if officers have access to them. There’s nothing from stopping them to delete evidence. Video should be sent live to cloud based, and manipulated only at HQ under supervision. TWO officers must sign off along with a supervisor for handling video. They must step up accountability. It’s like they have strict procedures for handling evidence, to avoid tampering, well, same thing applies to video. It’s not only for law, but also for accountability to answer to law.
Amazed says
News flash: Many deputies have already been using these cameras. They purchased them on their own. The recordings have been used hundreds of times to disprove false claims made by lying lawbreakers that were unaware that they were being recorded. If cops screw up, they should punished. But so should liars that make false allegations and get caught. So I guess with that huge camera being so obvious, everyone will act accordingly.
Palmdirt says
Would have been interesting in the case of that pig that was raping women and bribing them while on duty and operating out of the Palmdale station. Remember him from a year or 2 ago? The news didn’t like to cover that story too much.
allavallthetime says
Anything that makes an AV cops life more difficult is a good thing.
PleaseLeaveTheAV says
You must do a lot of really dumb things if you have encounters with officers that leave a negative taste in your mouth.
allavallthetime says
Nope. AV is just a negative place with a negative vibe where negative things happen to otherwise normal people. It’s place without any redeeming qualities and a pitiful reputation. People don’t choose the Antelope Valley, they end up there.
William says
I disagree. I chose to live in Palmdale even when I still had to commute to the San Fernando Valley for 7 years.
The Antelope Valley has about 500,000 people. If you don’t think there will be problems and problems always get the headlines, then maybe you’re not taking advantage of the good stuff.
I live in a nice neighborhood in Palmdale, not a gated community. Nearby is the Mall and Walmart, Smart n Final, TJ’s,, etc., a zillion places to eat within a mile or two and more.
I’ve got great neighbors, unbelievably so. I’ve moved around a lot and never really got into settling in with neighbors too much. before.
If you live in a crappy neighborhood, that’s on you. Make more money and move. If everywhere you go, there are bad vibes, it’s on you.
I’ve got a great mayor and because I’ve moved around a lot, I never paid attention to local politics and I can’t believe my good fortune being so lucky to have the leadership and city staff that Palmdale has. I don’t recall feeling like that even when I’ve in Monterey before moving to southern California. And, Monterey is a very nice place and……it, too, had problems.
Are there problems? Sure. Crime has gone down in Palmdale. House prices have recovered somewhat from the Great Recession. New business keeps coming to Palmdale.
Remember the story of the little boy who dug into a pile of manure because he said “There’s got to be a pony in there somewhere.”
Well, you’re just the opposite. You’re combing the pasture of the Kentucky Derby’s winner looking for dropings.
where are the drones? says
Where are the drones that Lancaster pays for? What are these drones doing if there are so many unsolved crimes? Can the citizens wear cameras as well?
anotherdummy says
We don’t have any drones… Rex tried to get drones employed, but the California Senate has banned unmanned drone surveillance without a warrant.
So instead we have a POS “Eye in the Sky” — I wonder how many times a day it is flipped off. I know I give it a one finger salute every time I see it flying over my house.
callitasitis says
You have that right to wear a camera & record. You DO NOT have a right to file false claims/report or edit the recording if it is used as evidence of wrong doing.
I've seen it all says
The problem with cameras on Peace Officers is they tell the entire ugly story which is not always a good thing. Peace Officers have a violent job and MOST PEOPLE cant really handle that. A perfect example is with the NFL. Ray Rice told everyone what happened word for word and didn’t lie. The NFL gave him a 2 game suspension. Then look what happened. A video surfaced showing EXACTLY what Rice described. But now, Even the NFL says WOW, look at how violent that was. We need to fire him and suspend him indefinitely.
What a minute, he told you what happened and you were fine with the punishment. Now you see reality and how VIOLENCE really looks. The same applies to Peace Officers. They told you the suspect resisted and hit an Officer. The Officer was forced to use VIOLENCE to subdue the suspect. But now people actually see the violence and they start wanting to arrest the Officers. When you start going after the Officers for doing their jobs, you will see crime rise considerabey bcuz Officers refusing to engage suspects for fear of losing their jobs. We already see that happening since the Orange County Homeless man at the bus station.
Be careful what you ask for.
William says
What is so amusing is that Americans love gore and violence and more gore, zombies, bullets tearing flesh, car crashes, explosions and bodies flying for ENTERTAINMENT but they can’t handle the real thing.
Poor babies.
When I was a kid in the 1950s, they showed horrible pictures of concentration camps on TV, corpses piled in mass graves, emaciated people and so on in addition to battle scenes.
Nowadays, Americans talk tough but are bigger wusses than ever when it comes to reality.
“beheadings’ Really folks? Didn’t you hear what happened to Nicole Brown Simpson? Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims? Sharon Tate and friends? Yeah, they are real savages over ‘there’ not civilized like we are.
Connie says
I think this is a great idea. I hope all LASD will be wearing these camaras in the near future. Maybe it will stop frivolous lawsuits by criminals who are caught in the act and then cry that their rights were violated. Criminals don’t give a hoot about the rights of people they violate.
The way I see it, you don’t have to fear the camaras if you are a law abiding citizen.
ThatOneChick says
If a “criminal” sues…and wins then clearly it was found that their rights were violated. The only thing that may stop so called “frivolous suits” would be the cameras preventing law enforcement from actually VIOLATING those rights since now it’s all being recorded.
dave says
Very false information your giving “ThatOneChick.” LA County don’t want to waste the money or time having to go through a law suit and usually pay out just to shut the criminal up. Doesn’t mean that they were innocent at all.
Its so sad that these Deputies actually are protecting the community and ignorant people like you ranting and raving over nothing. Next time your in trouble dont call 911 because we won’t want these Deputies to “violate tour rights.”
TheOneChick says
I said if they WIN not if they SETTLE. And I agree that there are settlements simply to avoid the a long and pricey legal battle and perhaps in fact that is what the OP (original poster) meant.
I don’t believe my comment which simply stated an opinion of disagreement was aggressive or rude and it absolutely was not IGNORANT of me.
There was no need for you to come at me in such a way. Those who are “better than” my normally spell better than you. So you SIR can sit in syrup for the bees. =0P
ThatOneChick says
Those who are “better than” **me normally spell better than you.
ThatOneChick says
This is a pilot program. Which means the idea is being put to the test so that stregnths and weaknesses can be identified. It looks like 96 devices will be distributed amongst the four choosen stations: Lancaster Station, Temple Station, Century Station, and Carson Station.
I think it’s a good idea. I also think there will be many kinks. Here’s hoping the pilot program identifies stregnths and weaknesses as it relates to the protection of both police AND civilians and continue to working towards eliminating those weaknesses and continueing with the program.
I for one would feel much safer being pulled over in the future if I knew that law enforcement were being recorded. Of course, if these recordings can be manipulated in any way, then I do not see a point in it.
I wonder if the pilot program is being rolled out by a third party entity that is unbias and not in favor of one side or the other. (If that last sentence makes any sense).
Eric says
The idea of the cameras is a great one. Glad to see it happening, even if it is just a test run for now.
As far as where the cameras come from, you can be guaranteed back scratching went into the final decision as far as which company provides them. The cameras should be ran for the duration of their patrols as far as I’m concerned though.
Abra says
This is awesome! You mean Antelope Valley Deputies will have to follow procedure at all times, interact professionally with citizens, not treat everyone like a perp, and not engage in civil rights violations? HOLY [removed]! WHAT A CONCEPT!!!
Irena says
I have been pulled over 2 times and have never had a problem with the police treating me like a perp. I acted polite and was treated with respect.
I have also had to deal with local law enforcement during my job and again they were always professional, helpful and courteous.
Dave says
Good! Glad the LASD is finally doing something good. Too many ghetto lying crack heads live in the Antelope Valley, and many money hungry criminals purposely suing the LASD for pathetic reasons. Many Sheriff’s in the AV aren’t shady people, its the ghetto bad people doing shady activities 24/7.
AVHC says
Good. All you have to do is internet search ‘LASD Corruption Antelope Valley,’ and you will know exactly why these cameras are a good idea. And, make sure all 96 issued devices are in the field because we know some cops are going to hate this program and won’t be volunteering.
Bob says
I agree with anonymous about this should be mandatory. And if i understand this, the officers are being trained on how to access and retrieve the files? well that just put this program in the shi**er. I guess the use of cameras or audio recording devices comes down to what you are trying to accomplish with it. it looks like this protocol is used to solely work solely for supporting the cops. not trying to level the playing field for the accused as well. wonder if the software training also includes video manipulation techniques as well??
Condition of Anonymity says
I’m only here to see the ignorant comments about how the video will be manipulated, you have consent to be recorded by LASD, how this is an invasion of individual rights, etc.
1. The cameras use a file system that is actually admissible in court due in part to its ability to identify if it has been manipulated in any way including stops, damage and obviously edits. Google SHA-1,2,3
2. LASD is exempt from the Two party consent law so they can record just about anyone for anything almost anywhere as it pertains to a possible crime.
3. See item 2.
Pirruris says
This is long over due. When are they going to require the Palmdale sherifs department to wear them too? Bottom line, if you are a sheriff, and you are doing things by the book, you got nothing to worry about. On the othe hand, if you are crooked cop, you should seriously consider finding a different line of wok, because it is only a matter of time, before you get caught. Kepp in mind, you broughg this upon yourselves, by abusing your powers and violating civil rights. This is long over due and they should have done this 10 years ago. I am still pissed at the shooting that happened in new mexico(and many others), where the authorities murdered a homeless unarmed man. As far as i am concern, the idiots that commited that crime, should be prosecuted and should go to jail. Wearing cameras should be a requirent natipn wide.
anonymous says
This might just be the the best thing that city has ever decided to do. It shouldn’t be voluntary, it should be mandatory. There are too many crooked cops not doing their jobs right and abusing their powers. I hope this goes global, and some positive change comes from it.
10dog says
Sorry most are police good. Maybe you are doing something you are concern to have recorded ?
John Doe says
I see the good old “if you aren’t doing anything wrong you shouldn’t have anything to worry about” card has been played.
Also, one bad cop is too many. The poster didn’t say all cops are bad. They said there are too many.
bill says
It’s not a “card” it’s a fact.
Sandra says
i think for this day and age with all the technology out there this will be a great tool for the sherrif department in Lancaster to use while conducting there day to day duties. I think when people see the camara they will think twice before acting up unless they are on drugs or drunk they wouldn’t care what they were doing. It will also be a great way to prove what happens on each stop they make. My only question is will the sherrifs that use them be able to delete something they don’t want their department to see? I’m looking forward to your findings at the end of the test period.
BigRick says
This is cool. The Deputies do a great job here in Palmdale. Alot of douche bags out here that lie and try to get law personel in trouble or a free ride off the court. This will only reinforce the truth on the prerps.
jose says
I think this will be good because alot of cops think there above the law by violating people’s rights….& get away with it . But cops will always find away to violate your rights anyways cameras or not ….just watch mistaken bacon / Tom Zebra.
Irena says
And too many people claiming their rights were violated looking for a pay out from a lawsuit.
Many people claim their rights are violated but in reality most people don’t even know what “rights” they are talking about.
callitasitis says
I concur; digital recording will clear up the false claims. Those who fill false claims should be held to account both civil & criminally. This should be mandatory & Feds D.O.J. should pay for it too.