Aurora – The city’s new police chief says cameras in patrol cars will provide more accountability for a department that has come under fire for several high-profile incidents involving officers on duty.
Chief Dan Oates, who started his job in November, also said cameras can capture criminal activity, accumulate evidence and become an officer’s best defense if accused of misbehavior.
That’s why Oates will make a pitch for cameras at a meeting today of the City Council’s subcommittee on public safety.
If approved, Oates will equip 11 cars from the department’s traffic unit with digital cameras and their officers with microphones in an $85,000 pilot program paid for with a federal grant.
“They are just great,” Oates said about the cameras. “The cops, once they are comfortable with them, they love it. (The camera program) adds an element of accountability and transparency that is great for the agency.”
Putting cameras in patrol cars is becoming commonplace nationwide, but hasn’t gained much momentum in Colorado. Most large municipalities, including Denver and Colorado Springs, don’t have cameras in their patrol cars.
And some agencies, such as the Glendale Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, removed cameras after a trial run.
The Colorado State Patrol equips 57 patrol cars with cameras, some of which date back more than 10 years, when the first analog cameras were given to the agency by an insurance company.
Initially, troopers were reticent about the cameras, said Sgt. Jeff Goodwin, a State Patrol spokesman.
“You feel like someone is watching you,” he said. “The majority of guys were wondering why you had to have this technology watching everything we did. … (It) does come in handy when we have a complaint that is registered against the trooper.”
Oates became a proponent at his previous job as chief of the Ann Arbor, Mich., police department. At least 10 patrol cars were equipped with cameras, and proved helpful in officer training, collecting evidence for court and investigating complaints against officers.
“Cops may initially be anxious about what they think is the Big Brother element, but the first time a police officer gets a complaint … and the video proves the cop acted professionally, he becomes a believer,” Oates said.
Officials with the Aurora Police Association were unavailable for comment on Tuesday.
The Aurora Police Department has been criticized after several high-profile incidents over the past few years, including an officer charged with pointing a gun at a suspect in the back of a patrol car, the shooting death of an unarmed man in a motel room and the tasing of a man at a children’s restaurant over a salad bar dispute.
Oates and other city officials say employing cameras is one step to restoring the department’s tattered image.
“It shows that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to prove the actions of our officers are responsible,” said Deputy City Manager Frank Ragan, who is in charge of public safety.
Staff writer Jeremy P. Meyer may be reached at 303-820-1175 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
