ORLANDO, Fla. – The Orlando police chief says his department is in the final stages of outfitting all officers with upgraded body cameras, as his department continues to expand transparency and add layers of safety for both the public and the officers.
Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon said the new body cameras that he, his executive staff, and more than 800 officers are now using are key when it comes to holding officers more accountable and better addressing transparency.
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“We want to be transparent. We want to be able to show people exactly what it is that we are doing,” Rolon said.
One new feature is when an officer draws their gun or activates their taser, their body camera turns on automatically and starts recording and their partner’s body camera close by will activate too.
The new body worn cameras can also live stream video directly to the crime center at the Orlando Police Department’s headquarters, and it’s also a new and more convenient way for officers to upload their video from the field.
Meantime, an independent review of OPD released this week found the department does not document and collect data on all traffic stops and it does not require documentation of searches.
“Our commitment is we want to collect the data,” Rolon said.
The chief said he’s making data collection his priority.
“We have to adjust our system that collects that data, so it is incorporated into the fields that we need to collect the information,” Rolon said.
The chief said his department is also in the process of training and getting these body cameras for the community service officers soon too.
The department said the new body worn cameras was an investment of $6.4 million. So far, 842 sworn offices have been issued these new body cameras, including executive and command staffs.