The Bellevue (Wash.) Police Dept. is adding body-worn cameras on patrol officers for the first time in an effort to “bolster transparency, accountability and safety” within the community, the agency announced Wednesday.
A select group of officers in the city east of Seattle will start wearing the Axon Body 4 cameras on Thursday, and by the end of March the cameras will be part of the tech tool belt for all 114 of the department’s commissioned officers.
Bellevue PD is also changing to Taser 10 tasers from Axon, which it calls a “significant upgrade,” which will enhance accuracy, range, safety protocols and add an intuitive interface.
The department called the addition of cameras — a staple among departments across the U.S. — the culmination of years of preparation. It said the community and police advisory councils were engaged in 2021 about adding the tech, and the use of body cams was one of the recommendations submitted by an independent review agency after Bellevue’s mayor pledged to review police use-of-force policies in 2020.
Police body cams and the footage they capture is intended to deter wrongful actions by officers, but a recent investigation by The New York Times called the technology a “failed promise,” and said that across the U.S., even when departments have stated policies of transparency, they don’t always follow them.
Asked by GeekWire to comment on the Times’ reporting and how the Bellevue PD might eventually differ in how it handles captured footage, the department’s public information officer pointed to official policy on how officers are expected to use the cameras and deal with video and audio that they capture.
The department also plans to add a FAQ to its public facing website this week that will inform residents how they can request a copy of body cam footage from an incident. The FAQ, similar to what the Seattle Police Dept. has online, lays out circumstances under Washington law where release of footage may be limited.
The use of artificial intelligence to scan recordings associated with the many thousands of hours of body-cam footage generated by police departments has hit some snags, at least in Seattle. In February 2023, the Seattle PD stopped using a platform designed to search for potentially inappropriate officer behavior.
The latest cameras and Tasers from Axon offer a number of upgrades, according to Bellevue PD’s news release:
- The body cameras have high-definition recording capabilities, improved low-light performance and an expanded field of view compared with most police body cameras in use today. The cameras also have a two-way communication feature, facilitating audio and video interactions between officers and command centers.
- The Tasers feature a 45-foot range that is twice the range of Tasers currently being carried by BPD officers.
- The Tasers feature a bright pulsing light and loud sound whenever the weapon’s warning alert is initiated, to allow a user to de-escalate without deploying cartridges.
- The Taser 10 also features single probe deployment, which allows for greater accuracy and the ability to choose a safe target area on a person at any distance.
Headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., Axon maintains a significant engineering presence in Seattle. The company says its mission is to help de-escalate police use of force by providing transparency, technologies and tools that can replace deadly weapons.
