Crime & Safety
Chester Police Have Added Body Worn Cameras To Uniforms
The police department says the change stems from a directive on body worn cameras from former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal.
CHESTER, NJ — Members of the Chester Police Department have a new addition to their uniforms they started wearing Monday, with body worn cameras now a part of what they put on.
The department is doing so for uniformed officers and “at times plain clothes officers,” according to a social media post announcing the change, providing a photo of both the camera and where it it will be placed on an officer’s uniform.
The change has been instituted as part of the New Jersey Attorney General Directive set by former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal in May 2021, which Grewal set based on laws that require the use of Body Worn Cameras for “all uniformed patrol officers.”
According to Directive 2021-5, Grewal wrote in a news release that many departments had started voluntarily using the cameras as early as 2015, with the public “coming to expect that officers will be equipped with some kind of recording technology in the performance of their duties,” he stated, the demand “in the wake of critical incidents involving police use of force.”
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Per the directive, available here, the cameras record both audio and video of "activities that take place during any law enforcement action," though they are not required for some officers, including those working undercover and in schools, among circumstances.
Unless the officer encounters a dangerous situation, the directive indicates they must tell people they are being recorded, the directive also states, including while they're in someone's home, speaking to crime victims and speaking to someone who is talking anonymously to the officer, though in these circumstances, it can be requested to the officer to turn off the camera.
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Police departments must keep footage for 180 days, with it automatically kept for three years if a complaint is filed in an incident, the directive states.
As part of the directive, police departments were also required, to provide public notice, which Chester Police did in both its Facebook Post and on the Chester Township website, here.
“This technology is invaluable to serve and protect our public as well as serving to protect our officers,” Chester Police Department wrote. “The captured video has tremendous evidentiary and training value as well as protecting the integrity and the transparency of the Chester Police Department.”
Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.
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