As more police departments look to add on-officer cameras, the Fort Worth Police Department is already ahead of the curve and answering questions for other departments.
Last week President Barack Obama asked Congress for funding to help put 50,000 body cameras on police officers nationwide.
Fort Worth police officers have been using the cameras for several years now, and soon nearly a third of the department's officers will be equipped with the recorders.
In the wake of incidents in Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island, N.Y., the topic of on-body cameras for officers has gained national attention.
"There is tremendous interest now, certainly throughout the country," said Interim Police Chief Rhonda Robertson.
It's believed the city's 420 cameras are the second-most in use across the country, and with the president's call to equip seven-percent of the nation's police force with them, Robertson said other departments are asking for advice.
"It's still a new field and we are learning something new every day as well, and we're happy to share that with other departments who are just now bringing them on board," Robertson said.
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By mid-January 550 Fort Worth officers will be equipped with the cameras, with the city prepared to have a total of 600 in the short term for the roughly 1,700 police officers. But the cameras are by no means perfect and they are still very much an evolving resource for the department.
"You have this expectation, this hope, this belief, that it's all being captured and then when you go back and look at it later on, you see it was twisted slightly," Robertson said.
Robertson said there is still much to learn about how to effectively wear and secure the cameras. A glasses-mounted camera can be knocked off in a scuffle. Cameras mounted to the officer's tie or collar face forward and may not catch action or what the officer sees to his or her sides. Learning the best practices though is something her department and many others across the country will certainly discover.
"I'm sure trial and error over the next months and years," Robertson said. "Technology will improve as far as securing them and we're going to learn more about placement."
Last week the cameras captured the fatal shooting of an armed robbery suspect who charged at an officer.
The incident is still under investigation, but police say the video will be released.
"I have reviewed all three videos from the officer-involved shooting on Camp Bowie multiple times," said retiring Chief Jeffrey Halstead, in a statement. "Two of these videos were from our ‘on-officer’ cameras and it reinforces our support for this technology to show exactly what the officer faced when making a life and death decision."
In that incident, 55-year-old Gilbert Reyna, a known transient, was shot and killed by the officer after charging toward him with a bat in one hand and a screwdriver in the other, police said.
"The suspect was running directly at the officer and had the bat raised as if he was going to hit the officer on his head. The screwdriver was in his other hand. The officer tried to retreat for over 15 feet as the suspect closed to a distance of less than six feet from the officer. The officer fired one shot to stop the threat, exactly as we train. Thankfully, they utilized their training, tactics, and excellent communication so they could stay safe and go home at the end of their shift," Halstead said.
