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Baltimore County police to roll out body cameras

Police will not be able to delete or edit footage from their cameras and the film will be automatically sent to a secure database.

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Baltimore County police have shot five people this year, three of them fatally.

If the pilot is successful, Storton said the department could look into using grant money to buy the cameras.

There have been concerns about how and when the cameras could be turned on, especially when police are dealing with victims of sexual assault or domestic violence.

Councilman Wade Kach, a Cockeysville Republican, also questioned whether body cameras should be a top priority for spending limited tax dollars.

The UVA Police Department has a total of 150 body cameras.

“We’ve seen events across the nation that demonstrate how critical these relationships between law enforcement and the community really are, in both good times and bad, and this relationship is built only through a mutual trust”, said Acting Union County Prosecutor Grace Park.

While county and state funds will cover the cost of the cameras and the record storage for the first year, each participating department has agreed to pick up the costs for at least the two following years.

“The introduction of body cameras was followed by a reduction in citizen complaints of between 40 and 90 percent, and reduction of police use of force incidents of 35 to 75 percent”, she said. The pilot program will begin October 26 and conclude December 18.

The state-wide roll out of the BWV cameras comes after the NSW Police Force completed a trial of the technology in 2013 and 2014.

Body cameras became part of a national dialogue on police-community relations in the wake of Ferguson and other high profile cases where unarmed black men were killed by police.

The Eastern Beaches Local Area Command will be the first site where the BWV solution will be rolled out, the NSW Police Force said.

The panel’s 100-page report, a copy of which was obtained by The Baltimore Sun, points to possible obstacles, including significant equipment and staffing costs and the likelihood of increased public information requests.

“I am a believer the cameras have helped a whole lot more than hindered”, Dickey said.

Councilman Julian Jones, a Democrat from Woodstock, said Johnson called him Wednesday to notify him that the county would move forward with body cameras.

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“And if you are trying to talk to people after a shooting, they might not want to talk if they know a camera is on”, Curlis said.

Members of the National Guard stand guard at Baltimore City Hall