BSO Sporting New Addition To Uniform
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- Broward deputies sported the newest additions to their uniforms - body cameras.
On Tuesday while at their Fort Lauderdale headquarters, the department showed off the new cameras they'll be wearing on the job.
BSO has decided on a camera that will attach to the front of a deputy's shirt. The material will be downloaded and saved.
Currently there are 50 body cams in use throughout Broward County and eventually the Sheriff says 1,500 road patrol deputies will be equipped with the new technology.
"The important thing about body cams is that it shows what happens from the deputy's perspective," said BSO Sgt Andrea Tianga.
As one of the most talked about tools in law enforcement, officers showed it's a tool that is useful to both law enforcement and the community.
They showed the press video from one of the cameras that was being used during a North Lauderdale traffic stop. The video showed a woman going off on the deputy over the stop.
"I was stopped up there I wasn't speeding," said the woman in the video. "I thought you were stopping me for not wearing a seat belt."
Later, the same woman filed a complaint saying the deputy was unprofessional and racist.
The important thing about the cameras is it showed the deputy's perspective - things you can't capture on surveillance footage
In this instance, the video cleared the deputy.
Sheriff Scott Israel - a champion of the body cams - says it will build trust in the community and help with investigations.
"You can't say something happened if it didn't. The cameras don't lie," said Israel.
Broward County will spend a thousand dollars a year on each deputy to equip them with the cameras and then store the images. It's expected the body cams will generate one million videos a year.
They are not the only law enforcement department wearing them in South Florida.
About one-third of law enforcement agencies currently use body cameras, both nationally and statewide - among them are Palm Beach Gardens and Miami Beach Police.
