Kalispell officers get new body cameras

Now armed with a third eye, Kalispell’s police officers are hitting the streets with technology that will lend a new perspective to their jobs.

By the end of the week, Capt. Tim Falkner said he hopes every patrol officer’s uniform will be equipped with one of the department’s new body cameras, ready and recording whenever officers come into contact with civilians.

No bigger than the average cellphone, each camera is armed with high-quality optics, night-vision capabilities, Wi-Fi connectivity and several hours worth of storage for video that automatically uploads to a wireless server the moment officers pull up to the police station.

With the implementation of the new cameras, Falkner said he hopes to cut down on public complaints against officers, access new and improved methods of investigation and provide a valuable resource for the prosecution of criminals.

According to Falkner, the body cams were first put into the 2016 budget and ordered last August.

After more than a year of consideration and preparation, the cameras were deployed on May 9.

In other states, similar devices have been used in the investigation of cases, to help identify or give an accurate number of suspects.

Some departments, such as the Las Vegas Metro Police, use the non-routine video captured by police body cameras to train both veteran and new officers with real-life situations.

From a prosecution standpoint, Flathead County Attorney Travis Ahner said video from the new body cameras will be used “all the time” for a number of purposes.

According to Ahner, the video provides a valuable resource that can help bring a sense of reality from the scene of an incident into a courtroom where he says situations often become “sterilized.”

“When we’re trying to present cases to either judges or juries, what we have are written reports, and it’s tough to convey what was going on, what the mood was on the scene,” Ahner said. “Every time we have these on-scene videos, it really beings it home for either the judge or the jury in terms of ‘Whoa, that was a serious situation.’”

Ahner said body camera footage can be used to show the emotional impact on a victim that otherwise might not be heard. It can also show how evidence was gathered by an officer, whether a suspect was resisting or threatening an officer and whether an officer misread or appropriately reacted to a situation.

Even when the footage is not used in court, Ahner said both the prosecution and the defense could use it to determine whether to pursue charges or how to tackle a case.

“Once both sides review the video, we don’t have to rely on testimony. We can just examine it,” he said.

CURRENTLY, FIVE of the department’s 10 cameras are active in the field, though Falkner said they are not carried without some apprehension on the part of the officers.

Though the cameras have the potential to give more accurate and detailed depictions of what happens in the field, there are downsides for both parties involved.

Falkner said that as humans, his officers worry about their own errors and sensitive information being recorded.

With such advanced visual technology, the cameras can often see better in low-light situations than officers can. Things that appear clearly in the footage may not accurately depict what the officer was experiencing or seeing in the dark and stress of the moment.

Also, despite the cameras’ wide field of view, they are often limited in the amount they can see from their place on an officer’s chest pocket.

“I’m not first person to say that just because we have video, doesn’t mean that’s the whole story,” Falkner said.

According to Falkner, a policy has been put in place for the department that states officers must activate their cameras and continue recording any time they interact with citizens while on duty.

Though officers do have the ability to turn their cameras on and off, Falkner said they do not have the option to delete footage.

The captain, however, said he does have the option to look at the video and seal parts that may reveal sensitive or private information that would not necessarily have a bearing on the case it involves.

This does not mean anyone has the right to delete or hide information recorded by the cameras.

Though Montana is one of the few states in the U.S. that does not have any legislation in place that specifically addresses the use and availability of information recorded by police body cameras, according to Montana State Law regarding open records, both citizens and the press have the right to inspect any “public writings” of the state except what is prohibited by statute.

As far as issues of privacy resulting from the cameras, state law says, “records may be closed if the right to individual privacy clearly exceeds the public’s right to know.” However, the Montana Supreme Court has ruled that the constitutional public right to know usually outweighs individual privacy interests.

Nationwide, the usefulness of body cameras on police officers is still being examined. Falkner said the decision to use them in Kalispell was not made lightly, but he anticipates good things from the implementation.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.