Jersey City Plans To Roll Out New Cellphone-Based Police Body Cams
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Jersey City police are giving body cams a try after a first attempt three years ago did not go very well.
The first time around, the software was flawed and data storage was expected. So as CBS News' Anna Werner reported, they are trying a cheaper option – using cellphones.
When Jersey City police Officer Ameer Alateek prepares to go on foot patrol, which now includes a body camera in a cellphone.
"Anytime I have a community interaction, the camera will be in use," Alateek said.
The police-issued cellphone is set to a mode that only allows it to function as a cop camera.
The officer turns the camera and the recorded footage streams directly to a secure server at the Police Department.
Jersey City is the first city in the U.S. to try the less-expensive method to record officers' actions.
"When we started exploring body cameras-- Google mentioned that hey, they may have a solution that they've worked with elsewhere in the world. Would we be open to it? And we said, 'Yeah, we'll take a look,'" said Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop.
A sister company to Google, called Jigsaw, developed the app called Copcast.
Mayor Fulop said the new system offers more data storage options than traditional body cams, which also helps lower the system's price by millions of dollars.
"I think Jersey City is a great place to try innovative solutions to challenges in government," Fulop said. "It's big enough that you can actually see what happens and try different things, and it's small enough that if it doesn't work, you can adopt different solutions and change and adapt."
Jersey City plans to roll out the cellphone cameras to all of its 932 officers in the fall.
The system is not perfect. The department wants to make the cameras less bulky and lighter weight.
And Officer Alateek, who helped test them, admitted that not all residents liked being recorded.
"There are situations where there's service to calls and, and when we come in and we have the cameras on, they kind of get camera-shy and they don't want to deal with us," he said.
But Mayor Fulop said it is time to get used to it. He foresees a day when those phone cams might be worn by every New Jersey government employee who deals with the public.
"The quality of the service from our employees are going to be top-notch," Fulop said, "and I think that if anything slips, there's going to be a chance to review that and correct it."
When Werner asked if the program is "a little Big Brother-ish," Fulop said, "I think ultimately our goal is to deliver the best quality service possible."
American Civil Liberties Union privacy advocate Jay Stanley said that maybe taking things a bit too far.
"Last time I checked, there hasn't been any housing inspectors that have shot unarmed black men," Stanley said. "There's no reason to have the privacy problems that come with these cameras for government employees that don't have that power that police officers have to shoot and kill."
But Fulop said: "When you're in a world of terrorist risk and security risks, that these sort of tools are important. It's just a reality of where we are today. So do I think that some people are going to say, 'This is like Big Brother?' Yes. Do I think that ultimately this is where we end up from a technology standpoint for all police departments? Yes as well."
