New body cameras for Indiana State Police

 

BREMEN, Ind -- The Indiana State Police receive their new Axon body camera systems that include one body camera and two cameras in the car.

One of the many reasons the body camera system is in place, is to provide protection to officers and citizens in any scenario, allowing their to be accountability on both sides.

"The reason we’re getting them is that I think its an expectation of the community that a majority of the police officers that work within the community are going to have body cameras and also in-car cameras because it’s a protection for all of us," said Indiana State Police Sergeant Ted Bohner.

The new system is high-end technology that will automatically turn on the cameras when officers make certain actions but is also capable of being turned on manually by officers.

"They’re triggered when we turn on our lights for traffic stop or to assist a motorist that’s broken down. They’re triggered by speed if our cars go over one-hundred miles or over they’ll automatically come on. And also, theirs a sensor on our holster, so if our weapons are drawn, it will also trigger the body cameras to turn on," said Sergeant Bohner.

Although it may seem as simple as grabbing a camera and placing it on an officer, there are a lot of moving parts and for that reason, the plan for any officer receiving the equipment, is for them to go through training, in order for everyone to be better protected, when the cameras are rolling.

"Well we go over our SOP’s of when to have our cameras on and as well as how to operate them. You know it’s something that’s brand new to us," said Sergeant Bohner.

One question that many are wondering as the cameras begin to roll out, is how much is this effort of transparency with the community?

The answer to that is $15 million over 5 years.

To make sure the footage from each camera is available after recording, officers are responsible for uploading footage to the cloud when documenting.

The cloud will hold the footage for an allotted amount of time, depending on the category that it falls in.

The details for how long footage is held on the cloud can be found online, in an SOP by the Indiana State Police: Indiana State Police Body Camera SOP.