The Alaska Department of Public Safety has begun a phased implementation of body-worn cameras for its troopers and officers across Alaska.
Some 30 Alaska State Troopers, Wildlife Troopers, and Court Services Officers have been equipped with the latest body-worn camera technology as part of a limited deployment phase to prepare for a full roll-out later this year.
The department was awarded $3.58 million in state funding and $938,000 in federal funding in July 2022 to finance the project.
After evaluating several options, DPS chose Motorola’s V300 body-worn camera in late 2022, as it was deemed the best fit for the department’s needs. DPS aims to provide every Alaska State Trooper, Wildlife Trooper, Deputy Fire Marshal, Court Services Officer, and Village Public Safety Officer with a body-worn camera as part of the program.
Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell believes they will be an essential tool in modern-day policing, providing an asset to troopers, officers, and the public they serve. Despite a few remaining hurdles, Cockrell is confident that the department will continue to move forward.
DPS has also finalized the policy that will govern the use of body-worn cameras, dash cameras, audio recorders, and other audio and video capturing devices after receiving public feedback earlier this year.
DPS conducted a public comment period on the policy in February and received input from staff, the Public Safety Employees Association, and other stakeholders during the spring to incorporate the best suggestions and recommendations into the final version.
The final version of the policy can be found at: https://dps.alaska.gov/bodycam
Overdue.
It’s alot more complicated than you may expect.
The holdup is less a camera that can handle snow, rain, and -50f after being inside a 60f car, it’s also needing bandwidth, a storage system, and a standard policy. It needs to work just as well in Ekwok as it does Napaskiak or Wasilla.
Not as simple as it sounds.
Smart!
As a 14 year old staggering home with a mangled arm on Upper Trail L. in Beautiful down town Moose Pass, the Trooper picked me up and met the ambulance at mile 6 after reaching speeds 120 MPH.
Sure was nice riding in the front seat rather the back seat, love those Alaska State Troopers 😉
This should have happened years ago. Too many Alaskans have had suspicious deaths, much more than the national average!
Yeah this is awesome that they’re doing this. Easier to prove a case.
Bodycams generally clear LEOs of specious and false allegations far more than they substantiate accusations.
These are a godsend to the Troops, lots more complaints eill get nipped in the bud.
Shuts those conspiracy theory internet addicts down right now.
For every one you see on the web that makes a cop look bad, there’s a hundred more that clear LEOs.
I guess I don’t spend enough time web-surfing…what suspicious deaths?
You do realize why on-body cameras were originally discontinued by DPS? Some of the older troops didn’t want to wear them and used “staff hours wasted redacting video for FOIA requests” as the excuse. Not my words or embellished. A ten year old could run the redaction program on any of these systems, it’s easy. There’s much much more to this story. This will help keep everyone honest and protect all. Great job Commissioner Cockrell. Much needed.
Your implication is that body cameras were once in use, then were not, and are now only becoming policy.
Totally false.
I don’t know if someone lied to you, if someone provided you information that was misunderstood, or a third alternative.
Bodycams have never been standard. Dashcams, only recently.
Dashcams have had two false starts prior to the current system in general use. The first system relied upon a VHS device and the second was a self-contained digital system. The first system just simply didn’t work reliably and of course, was vhs and burdensome. The second was digital but did not network and was not supported by the vendor because they went out of business. Yes, both systems recorded audio from on-board the troop, but no video.
Also, Troops aren’t the ones responding to FOIA requests, whether younger troops or older troops, that’s strictly an admin role and working troops simply don’t perform those duties. That’s an admin’s job.
The statement regarding running redaction on these programs that “a ten year old could do it” demonstrates you don’t understand what it is to be a troop, most of these guys aren’t computer nerds, whether young or old. Most of them? Yeah, they can drive a car 120mph in the dark, shoot guns, rassle drunks, interview a rape suspect, etc. They aren’t people who went to school dreaming of having a comfortable 9 to 5 worklife. There are some guys, of varying ages, into computer stuff, but very very few. Not their thang.
As for receiving input from the field, yes, DPS Cockrell is better at that than the previous commissioner. Simply put, the prevailing sense in that troops is that they spend more and more duty time documenting doing less and less.
Again, either you were provided bad information, mis-interpreted the information you were provided, a combination of the first two, or another option…
That will be some boring footage from the Mat-Su troopers.
If I had a child in the public indoctrination system they’d be wearing a body cam …….. a go pro? Some type of wire.
What indoctrination system?
The one that he thinks his children are hooked up to and some sort of shock therapy session so that they will learn how to be gay and wear pink panties
It’s called the public school system Greg
I’m against it. We are turning the whole world into a surveillance state. The Chinese Communist Party, with the help of US big tech, is perfecting these totalitarian tools. If it can be used by government against the people, it will be.
It’s the result of certain members of the public who believe everything that happens in policework is what they see on Youtube and such.
They’ll be disappointed when they realize how many police complaints become proven false or malicious. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen ones that legally qualified as False Report be charged…maybe that’ll change. Hope so.
Of course, when you make that DUI arrest, a video of the defendant staggering around or being extra-stupid is extra-useful…and fun for juries if it ever comes to that…which it almost never does.
Are there provisions for a chain of custody of the camera after an incident? We have had video altered in the past to pursue political means.
This is comical, lol, yeah Troopers are the part of society that need constant video monitoring ?. Gimme a break…
This isn’t about transparency, it’s about hobbling law enforcement. And you’ll get what you wish for.
I don’t need “pretty please with sugar on top” from the cop that pulls me over. Just keep my town safe.
Keeps everybody honest, and may indeed discourage some bad behavior. Excellent.
Now let’s make Clarence Thomas wear one.
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