Sheriff talks more police body cameras, challenges

After several months of fielding 160 police body cameras in Jurupa Valley, Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff said more will be on the way.

The plan is to deploy 3,000 devices to sworn and correctional officers across the county within the next several years. It’d cost more than $1 million to do it and Sniff hopes federal grant money will pay for half.

“What we were really surprised by was all the deputies wanted to use those cameras at every opportunity and their instincts of when and where to use those videos was pretty much spot on,” said Sniff. “There is no need to mandate that every contact be video taped.”

Sniff said with cameras clipped to officers during the voluntary test, it helped calm situations and put some people on their best behavior.

“The member of the public typically changes their tone quite a bit and actually becomes much better well-behaved. Our agency has well-behaved deputies anyway, but it certainly encourages them to adhere to that line and for the public to show their better side as well,” he said.

In January, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Association sued the sheriff’s department over the purchase of the cameras, saying the department never negotiated with union officials. The lawsuit is still pending.

Some other challenges include funding technology to store the hours and hours of footage forever. Plus, how and when the public gets to see that footage is up for debate, as it often includes faces of witnesses, families or the inside of homes.

The sheriff’s department wants to eventually begin testing the body cameras in jail and court operations, which could also create legal issues.

During disputes and controversial use of force by officers against civilians, Sniff said his department is focused on being objective.

“Other than in these narrow circumstances, they can certainly look at all of the video they want when they write their reports, that’s not an issue,” said Sniff. “But in those narrow circumstances that are really core and critical to the issue of police legitimacy and objectivity, it’s really critical we’re having them make their statement about what their state of mind was, and not be coached by videos.”

The county sheriff’s station in Palm Desert has 13 cameras.

“I’ve had a couple of visitors from the community complaining about officers actions, after viewing the (video), come to find out those were frivolous complaints,” said Capt. Sue Trevino.

Trevino said some valley deputies decided to buy their own police body cameras to protect themselves in potentially controversial situations.

“We’re not portrayed in a good light right now, law enforcement as a whole, communication and transparency are key for a successful relationship between law enforcement and the community,” said Trevino.