The Paterson Police Department, which has been the subject of an ongoing FBI corruption investigation that led to charges against eight cops, plans to equip 150 officers in its patrol division with body-worn cameras by the end of March, officials said Wednesday.
“Ninety-nine percent of the time (cameras) exonerate the police officer,” said Jerry Speziale, the city’s police director. “They are very good for the transparency of the police department and to help the police officers to protect themselves.”
The cameras from Axon Enterprise – the largest provider of police body cameras in the United States – will cost about $560,000 for a five-year contract and will be paid for with capital improvement money, bonds and the department’s operating expenses, according to Paterson police Chief Troy Oswald. The contact includes special software to blur out children’s faces, license plates and police computer screens, Oswald said Wednesday.
The announcement comes about a week after a Paterson police sergeant became the eighth city police officer arrested as part of an FBI corruption probe that began three years ago. The move to add body-worn cameras has been in the works for at least a year.
Sgt. Michael Cheff is accused of stealing more than $2,000 from the safe of an alleged drug dealer and of falsifying paperwork to cover up thefts of money that other officers stole.
Last summer, the police department was under scrutiny after Jameek Lowery, 27, died in a hospital two days after live-streaming his visit to police headquarters.
Following days of angry protests, an autopsy revealed that Lowery had died of bacterial meningitis and not at the hands of police officers.
In the coming weeks, officers in the patrol division – less than half of the department’s 376 police officers – will receive three days of training on how to use the cameras.
Excluded from wearing cameras are officers working narcotics, street crimes, traffic and those assigned to desk duty, Oswald said.
Officers with cameras will activate the body-worn devices to capture recordings that begin 30 seconds before the camera is turned on.
The cameras are self-contained, Oswald said, noting that each camera has its own battery and hard drive. When officers place the camera on a charging dock, the video they’ve created is uploaded to a government-protected cloud server, he said.
The video can later be reviewed and used as evidence in criminal cases. Videos will be available for public inspection under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Laws unless exempted by state attorney general guidelines, Oswald said.
The purchase of body cameras for Paterson police came at the urging of the city council’s public safety committee and Mayor Andre Sayegh.
“I have pursued purchasing body cameras since the first day I took office because they hold everyone accountable – the police and the public,” Sayegh said.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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