4 Nashville Police Begin Body-Camera Testing

NASHVILLE, TN — Four Metro Nashville police officers will begin wearing body cameras this week, guinea pigs of sort for an anticipated force-wide roll out of the technology.

Twenty volunteer officers from various precincts and divisions will test models from four different manufacturers as the department determines which to implement.

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The four officers were trained Monday on the cameras and began wearing them immediately thereafter. Those four are:

• Officer Jerre Fly from the Traffic Unit
• Officer William Wright from the Midtown Hills Precinct
• Officer Calen Morrison from the Hermitage Precinct
• Officer Sammy Johnson from the Traffic Unit

Watch: 4 Nashville Police Begin Body-Camera Testing

Cameras from the three other manufacturers will be issued to other volunteer officers in the coming days after they receive training on their operation. Feedback from the volunteers will help MNPD determine which model to issue across the force..

“Stage one of field testing that has begun today is part of the process to help ensure this police department makes the right decisions that are in the best interest of Nashville as we, over the coming months, work toward the establishment of a comprehensive body and in-car camera system,” Chief Steve Anderson said.

Policy for the research and development phase of body camera evaluation calls for the volunteer officers to record their daily police activity, including vehicle stops, arrests, searches, observed criminal law violations and the questioning of suspects or witnesses. An individual’s privacy or dignity may outweigh the need to record. For example, at natural death scenes, death notifications, and interviews with children or sexual assault victims. Officers will also make an effort to deactivate their cameras while in a patient care area of a health facility.

During the research and development phase, officers will download recorded video at their work stations at the end of each shift. The MNPD ultimately plans to have wireless hotspots in various parts of Davidson County to allow for the high speed downloading of video once fully integrated infrastructure for a body worn camera system is built and in place, the department said.

Photo via Metro Nashville Police