A new era of technology has arrived at the Yazoo City Police Department with the addition of new high-tech body cameras.
Police Chief Ron Sampson said he is excited for the department to receive the cameras.
"I'm extremely excited about it," he said. "I think it’s a great tool of protection for our officers and our citizens."
The new BodyWorn camera system is similar to a cell phone. It is built on a Motorola platform with technology that syncs into a wireless internet server in the patrol cars. The system software can be accessed at any time by dispatch and administrators at the police department.
"The fleet management that comes with this is immense," said Patrol Captain Jay Winstead.
The software that accompanies the BodyWorn cameras is equipped with GPS tracking and can communicate to police administrators the location of patrol cars, the time spent at each stopped location and the speed of the car in real time.
The system also maps routes taken by patrol units, which can easily be tracked to show how often neighborhoods are monitored and the times of day officers are present.
Winstead said that the audio and video capabilities of the cameras are controlled by policies set within the department.
"We have several automatic triggers that snap on at certain times that the officer does not have control over, which will be set forth with our policy and in compliance with state law and regulations," said Winstead.
The cameras will be used to monitor all activities encountered by each officer. Audio and video data will be backed up into the Cloud, a wireless digital hard drive, which can only be accessed by administrators.
Winstead added that this data will be used as evidence in courtrooms when needed in an effort to eliminate discrepancies between officers and offenders.
On top of the body cameras, the Yazoo Police Department has also added more cameras to the interior of its patrol cars to go along with the dash cameras.
Winstead said that the multiple viewpoints from the cameras will be used to monitor all aspects of the patrol unit, passengers inside the cars and all stops made by the officer.
"In this day and time, everybody expects a police department to have cameras," said Winstead. "The biggest aspect of it is fleet management, accountability and transparency."
The Yazoo City Police Department has enough cameras to outfit every active and part-time officer on duty, as well as each patrol vehicle.
The new body cameras are expected to hit the streets of Yazoo City next week, pending training and installation of the new technology.
