Jim Fair
Sgt. Jeff Smith displays a body camera that all patrol officers have been issued at the Greer Police Department.
“The body camera helps control behavior of the officers, but mostly it also helps control the behavior of civilians," Reynolds said. "Once officers tell them, ‘I am recording this,’ they shut up.”
Reynolds said all 35 patrol officers have been issued cameras that have been purchased from a fund established with confiscated goods.
“If (civilians) are misbehaving they sort of settle down and it helps us as it reduces the kind of force we would need to use in that kind of issue,” Reynolds said.
The cameras cost about $250 each but Reynolds said the biggest expense was purchasing data storage, for about $86,000.
“We studied this (body cameras) way back before Ferguson (Mo.) and other incidents taking place around the country,” Reynolds said. In fact, Reynolds presented the study at city council last summer.
The cameras are positioned on the officer’s shirt with enough air card memory to routinely record a day’s work. Videos are downloaded at the end of officers’ shifts.