While all encounters will be recorded, officers have limited discretion to turn off the cameras.
TRENTON -- When a city police officer is dispatched to a call, one of the first things he or she will do come June 1 is turn on their body-worn camera.
The device will record the entire encounter, unless, in some limited cases, it needs to be turned off.
And depending on the outcome of the incident is, the footage will kept for anywhere from 90 days to indefinitely in a cloud-based server.
And the cameras, which are rooted nationally in police accountability and transparency, will also be used to train and educate police officers to better handle future encounters.
Police supervisors will review footage regularly, and their reviews will be audited in several subsequent layers by commanders.
Trenton police officials laid out their plans for the cameras, and provided their multi-page order than governs them on Wednesday evening in the City Council Chambers during the first of five planned public events to explain their use.
"Are there going to be hiccups? Yes. But I cannot stress enough that everything we do is to serve the citizens of Trenton the best way we can," said police Capt. Ed Gonzalez, the department's chief of staff.
Responding to questions from a handful of citizens, and in a powerpoint presentation, Gonzalez and Police Director Ernest Parrey Jr., and two officers who worked on the camera project, gave a detailed rundown of the numerous ways the cameras will be utilized.
They also played two separate clips, one at night and one during the day, of a Trenton police officer's encounters with people during recent camera testing, to show their quality.
Among the details:
- Footage will not be stored by police in the city, but in a cloud-based system run by the company that sold the cameras to the city. Parrey said for increased transparency, he opted for the company to house it to avoid incidents in which someone could possibly accuse the city of erasing footage.
- Inconsequential encounters will be purged after 90 days. Footage connected to criminal charges will be kept until the case is adjudicated.
- While all encounters will be recorded, officers have limited discretion to turn off the cameras. They include during medical calls to retain privacy, if a juvenile is present, or to discuss investigative steps in a noncritical matter.
- An officer can also turn off their camera if a person they are speaking with requests it and indicates they would be willing to cooperate in an investigation if not recorded.
- An officer cannot turn off a camera just because some makes a general request and officers cannot self initiate turning off a camera.
- If an officer turns off a camera, the officer must narrate the reason on camera before it is turned off.
- Officers can review camera footage to refresh their recollections before writing a police report, and the footage can also be later used to refresh the memory of a person they are working with, like a witness.
- Officers cannot review footage following an officer-involved shooting.
- Footage will only be made public if it's the subject of a court order or applicable ruling, like an Open Public Records Act request, and it's ultimately governed by the state Attorney General's Office.
Gonzalez and Parrey say the cameras are meant to be another tool to benefit citizens, and officers.
"It keeps the officers on their toes and the public on their toes too," Parrey said.
Gonzalez did caution that while they hope the cameras will have many benefits, they are not perfect.
They do not capture the entire scope of an incident, only what is in front of an officer. For example, if an officer turns his head, but not his body - where the camera is mounted.
And they obviously do not record an officer's though processes or show an officers's investigative methods.
"A camera will never replace a thorough investigation - ever," Gnzalez said.
Parrey said while there is some mild trepidation among some officers resistant to change, "The majority are looking forward to having the cameras."
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.