PASCACK VALLEY AREA, N.J.—Only one of eight Pascack Valley towns has plans to have police officers wear body cameras starting Jan. 1, 2021, with most chiefs responding to a Pascack Press survey expressing confidence in body-worn cameras.
They told us they view the devices as an important tool for improved police-community relations. Most said they saw lack of state funding to implement the program, which Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law last month, effective Jan. 1, as a major impediment to fast implementation.
Meanwhile, local departments already have some form of video recording in place, such as vehicle-mounted dash-cams to capture police-public interactions.
In addition, most police chiefs responding to our survey were solidly in favor of body camera use, citing their value to citizens, police officers, and better policing in general.
Most noted funding was a must before such a program can be fully implemented. Several criticized the state program as “another unfunded mandate.”
Murphy said he recognized that funding was needed for the program. A companion bill appropriating nearly $58 million in state funds has yet to be posted for a vote.
Murphy said the body worn cameras would help effect transparency and accountability in policing and called spending for body-worn police cameras “a wise all-around investment in public safety and justice, when used properly.”
The law makes New Jersey one of only six states nationally to require police officers to wear body cameras.
The original legislation was introduced in 2014 by Mercer County Democratic Sen. Shirley Turner, following the death of Michael Brown in a police altercation.
New Jersey’s bill got its first hearing in August following the May death of George Floyd in a Minneapolis police incident and calls for police reform from social justice groups.
A recent state attorney general’s office survey found that 239 police departments—about 45% of all police departments statewide—had some or all officers wearing cameras. It found approximately 12,200 cameras in use by about one-third of New Jersey’s 36,000 police officers.
“This is a not a panacea, but it will go a long way in terms of serving as a linchpin in bridging the gap of trust and confidence that exists in our black and brown communities,” Turner recently told the press.
“Over the last several years, we have seen far too many horrific and heartbreaking police-involved shootings and deaths,” she said.
Montvale
Beginning Jan. 1, every Montvale patrol officer will wear Watch Guard’s Vista cameras on the job, said Chief Joseph Sanfilippo, who announced the new program this fall in our pages.
He said officers will wear body cameras on all shifts, following guidance from the state attorney general and Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
The cameras will be deployed during criminal investigations, motor vehicle stops, witness interviews, searches, civil disorder, court security, use of force and constructive authority, transporting prisoners, making arrests, conducting protective searches for weapons, and calls for service, Sanfilippo said.
He said his officers will wear the cameras on the front of their bodies, attached to their outermost garment.
The manufacturer says on its website that “The Wi-Fi- and GPS-enabled ultra-rugged body-worn cameras with simple controls allow officers to capture high-definition video evidence individually or as part of an integrated in-car system.”
“I’m glad to see that the state will be mandating body-worn cameras. It is unfortunate that there is no funding attached to the mandate. That being said, I think the cameras make our officers and the public more comfortable with the level of transparency that the cameras will afford,” Sanfilippo told Pascack Press.
He said mobile video recorders were installed in patrol cars in 2015 and “were well received by the officers and have been a great tool for us.”
Montvale mayor Mike Ghassali praised the police cameras. “I think it’s a good thing. We want our officers to be safe and our citizens to be safe and this offers a level of comfort on both sides. I don’t see any downside to it.”
Westwood
Westwood Police Chief Michael Pontillo said his department has used audio and video recorders for well over a decade, with officers and vehicle-mounted video cameras recording the scene.
“I welcome the transparency that the public demands of law enforcement. I don’t think that this was unexpected by any law enforcement agencies,” Pontillo said.
He said recording public-police interactions via body-worn cameras “builds public confidence in the after-action reviews of police conduct. Oftentimes, video footage has proven or disproven claims of police misconduct. This is simply another step in enhancing and reinforcing positive police-community relations.”
He said fully equipping police officers might cost almost $85,000, which “is not easily slid into the municipal budget… even if the state makes funds available today they should make it available on a rolling basis as the camera and backup computers become outdated to ensure that the camera programs remain in serviceable and working order.”
Pontillo noted the state did not include plainclothes police and detective units in the body-worn camera mandate, although these officers interact with criminal suspects “in more volatile and more serious criminal matters” that “have a higher likelihood of escalation than routine calls for service.”
He said including such officers would build trust and faith in the body-worn camera program.
River Vale
Asked if the cameras were good for police or the public, River Vale Police Chief Sean Scheidle said body-worn cameras “are good for everyone. They will document the factual details of what occurred without bias. When an officer acts properly it will be documented and when an officer acts improperly it will be documented.”
He said the video footage can be used in a trial, for investigative purposes, training or in a corrective action.
Park Ridge
Park Ridge Police Chief Joseph Madden, a past president of the Bergen County Police Chiefs Association, said he expected to see a body-worn camera law “after the most recent controversial interactions between the police and the public.”
“I feel police officers are hired and trained to use discretion and common sense in their dealing with the public. I think the need for body-worn cameras is not the same for every department. There are significant costs, storage, redacting, equipment,etc. associated with the purchase and it’s tough to mandate them without the proper funding in place,” he said.
Madden said said cameras help eliminate memory lapses and poor witness recollection of events.
Moreover, he said, the recordings “will help minimize frivolous complaints about police officers since many of them stem from citizens not happy receiving motor vehicles summonses.”