Cleveland Police to Test Body Cameras on Off-duty Details
The program is designed to improve officer accountability in secondary employment roles.
A plan is being put together to have police officers test body cameras while on off-duty details.
The following article originally ran in Campus Safety’s sister publication Security Sales & Integration.
City officials in Cleveland revealed plans to test body cameras on police officers who work off-duty details.
The pilot program comes after a federal monitor found significant deficiencies in the department’s policies that govern the use of body cameras, according to Cleveland.com.
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While officers are not currently required to wear body cameras while working security details, they wear their full uniforms and carry their standard-issued equipment, including a firearm.
Head Monitor Matthew Barge says that the public does not know the difference between an officer on duty and an officer working an off-duty shift when they are seen in public.
The police department claims there aren’t many instances where officers use force while working secondary employment. However, they have no data to back this claim up, according to Barge.
Greg White, the city’s consent decree coordinator, said there are “a lot of unanswered questions that a pilot program would answer.”
A plan for the off-duty pilot program must be turned into the judge overseeing the police reform by April 28.
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