{"id":8085,"date":"2014-12-16T21:21:17","date_gmt":"2014-12-17T05:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=8085"},"modified":"2014-12-16T21:21:17","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T05:21:17","slug":"l-oxnard-outfit-thousands-police-officers-body-cameras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=8085","title":{"rendered":"L.A. and Oxnard to Outfit Thousands of Police Officers with Body Cameras"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Denver<\/a>
Police Body Camera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LOS ANGELES —\u00a0Mayor Eric Garcetti<\/strong> said Tuesday he is putting together a deal to outfit the Los Angeles Police Department’s officers with body cameras, according to the mayor’s website.<\/p>\n

Initially, over 800 cameras will be used on officers who patrol where there is police and then, deploy the cameras for every officer on the street, the mayor said.<\/p>\n

“Out on the street, things aren’t always clear cut. These cameras will help law enforcement and the public alike find the truth —\u00a0and\u00a0truth is essential to the trust between the LAPD and\u00a0the\u00a0community, which has been a key factor in lowering crime to record lows,” Mayor Garcetti said. “I want to make sure LAPD is on the cutting edge when it comes to crime\u00a0suppression\u00a0and constitutional policing.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mayor Garcetti will provide funding in his budget for FY 2015-16 to acquire the about 7,000 total cameras needed to ensure all officers on the street will be outfitted.<\/p>\n

While events in Ferguson and President Barack Obama’s call for cameras have brought this issue recent national attention, Mayor Garcetti’s administration has been moving forward on the use of on-body cameras for more than a year, Garcetti stated.<\/p>\n

“Los Angeles will be the first major city to have a camera on every police officer,” said Councilmember Mitchell Englander, Chair of the Public Safety Committee. “This is a bold step that we took as a City to bring greater transparency to the Los Angeles Police Department.”<\/p>\n

Oxnard, which is about 60 miles from Los Angeles and in Ventura County, will also buy body cameras for its 254 officers within a year, according to Police Chief Jeri Williams.<\/p>\n

The city of Oxnard agreed as part of\u00a0lawsuit with Alfonso Limon’s family to put body cameras on their officers<\/p>\n

She said \u00a0the department began mandating the use of audio recording devices for Oxnard officers. Officers also will be required to wear body cameras within a year as part of the Alfonso Limon wrongful death settlement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Limon, a 21-year-old, and his younger brother, Gerardo, were walking home in La Colonia, a predominately low-income, Hispanic neighborhood in Oxnard, when they got caught up in a gun battle between police and a wanted parolee in Oct. 13, \u00a02012.<\/p>\n

The shooting of Limon resulted in the city of Oxnard having to pay $6.7 million to settle the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Limon\u2019s family which is the largest wrongful death settlement for the city of Oxnard. Limon was shot between 16 to 21 times by four officers as he lay on the ground, according to the Limon family lawyer Adam Shea.<\/p>\n

The District Attorney\u2019s Office reviewed the Alfonso Limon shooting and ruled that it was \u201clegally justified and not a criminal act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Garcetti’s Police Commission President Steve Soboroff<\/strong> raised more than $1.5 million in private funds to jump start the camera program and LAPD has been conducting field tests.<\/p>\n

Satisfied with those tests, Mayor Garcetti and LAPD said they have decided to execute a contract that includes the purchase of over 800 Axon cameras to be deployed to patrol and specialized detail officers (including gangs and bikes) in the Newton (South L.A.) and Mission (San Fernando Valley) Areas, and to three specialized units in Central Area — the Safer Cities Initiative, Eastside Detail, and LA Live Detail, according to Garcetti.<\/p>\n

The privately raised $1.5 million will pay for those cameras, according to Garcetti.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur community, and in particular communities of color, have asked for transparency in all levels of government, and that includes policing efforts,” said Councilmember Curren Price. “This city-wide body camera program will help us answer that call, increasing public trust in our police department in our communities that need it most.”<\/p>\n

Adding, “I am especially excited to see this program being rolled out in my district, a community that has struggled in recent months with use of police force. At a time when there are cameras everywhere we should be leading the nation, equipping our officers with the best technology available.”<\/p>\n

In Rialto, California, the police force began using body cameras in February 2012.<\/p>\n

“In the first year after the cameras were introduced here in February 2012, the number of complaints filed against officers fell by 88 percent compared with the previous 12 months. Use of force by officers fell by almost 60 percent over the same period,” according to the New York Times<\/a><\/p>\n

Across the nation, other police departments are shopping for body cameras for their officers<\/p>\n

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