“You know they say a picture is worth a thousand words and sometimes it's easier if you can just watch what happened instead of having someone telling you,” said Bozeman Lawyer Chuck Watson.
Watson and many other residents were surprised to find that Bozeman Police recently deployed its network of body cameras.
“I thought they already had them I can’t imagine why they didn’t,” said Bozeman resident Jeff Peters
The department equipped its staff at the end of 2022 with the state of the art body cameras.
“Across all the officers, detectives, animal control some of our civilian staff as well. And so far so good,” said Joseph Swanson, Bozeman Police Patrol Captain.
The body cameras are an addition to the video that is recorded off patrol cars. Swanson says this adds a new layer to the department.
“Overall the system is working as we have intended to,” said Swanson. “The officers have always had recording devices on themselves not necessarily a body camera so that part is new to us.”
Swanson explains that using technology at the new public safety center video begins uploading to the cloud as soon as an officer parks their car.
“Trying to increase the efficiency of the officers. Whereas before we had kind of multiple systems that we had to essentially put in our case management system,” said Swanson.
Swanson says now that the video is being recorded, it can also start to appear in court cases. One resident says the video is important if they are ever involved in a crime.
“Some people may forget things because they are in a state of shock or its hard to recall when something traumatic has happened,” said Bozeman Resident Ann Marie Cote.
Those I talked to say they are glad to know that the department has body-worn cameras in use.
“How did we even get this far without them I mean every other department has had them for a decade at least,” said Peters.
