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Forge grad finishing stint at Penn State Beaver VOL. 28 | NUM. 47
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FEBRUARY 3, 2017 | NORTHERN VIRGINIA MEDIA SERVICES
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RECORDED Area law enforcement moving to deploy body cameras ALEX KOMA
akoma@insidenova.com
he Stafford County Sheriff ’s Office could soon equip all its deputies with body-worn cameras in an effort to build trust with the community — but will the new technology live up to its potential to hold police accountable to the public? That’s the question civil rights leaders and policy experts are asking as county supervisors mull a department-wide expansion of the bodyworn camera program. Sheriff David Decatur initiated a 90-day pilot program for just over a dozen deputies last year, and now Decatur is hoping supervisors will approve a new budget for his office that includes funding to make the program permanent. Stafford County Sheriff ’s Office
spokeswoman M.C. Morris Moncure noted that the office was initially hoping to get a grant from the Department of Justice to help defray the costs of a body-camera system, but the county didn’t end up winning those funds. Now, Decatur is hoping to use over $179,000 in “seized asset money” to pay for the devices themselves and fund the roughly $300,000 in annual operating costs out of the office budget, Morris Moncure said. But she noted the department has yet to develop a formal policy for the program, merely giving deputies “general instruction and guidelines on their use.” If county supervisors ultimately approve the funds, she said, the office will consult with other area departments to craft a policy, but expects that document will not be “publicly disseminated.” That sort of process bears some
similarity to how other nearby locali- Institute, a left-leaning think tank — ties have pursued body-worn camera believes that the longer the office operprograms — Prince William County ates without a clear policy, the longer Police wrapped up a pilot late last year they’ll be “flying blind” when it comes after drafting a policy to govern their to concerns surrounding the technoluse, and are now asking county super- ogy. “We see this all the time with povisors for permission to make the program permanent — but researchers lice adoption of technology,” La Vigne who study the issue are bit disturbed said. “They get so excited about a new crime control method and they just inby Stafford’s process. In particular, Miranda Bogen — an vest in it without the training, without associate at Upturn, a technology re- thinking through the policy, without search firm that focuses on body cam- involving the public in the policy deera policy — suggested that launching velopment. Particularly anything that a pilot without ever formally establish- has to do with surveillance and right to ing how the cameras should be used privacy, it’s just not a sound doesn’t adequately involve the com- way of operating.” CAMERA La Vigne suggested that munity in the process. PAGE 13 “If people in the community see Prince William’s steps to some officers wearing cameras, they should be able to STAFFORD COUNTY SUN know how they’re being used,” Bogen said. SUBSCRIBE TODAY Nancy La Vigne INSIDENOVA.COM/SUBSCRIBE — the director of STAFFORDNEWS@INSIDENOVA.COM the Justice Policy CALL: (571) 208-8059 Center at the Urban 8
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