Flagstaff police to begin wearing body cameras
Sep 12, 2014, 9:06 PM | Updated: 9:07 pm
PHOENIX — The Flagstaff Police Department says it has begun training its officers on how to use body cameras that are to be worn while they are on patrol.
The department said it purchased Axon Flex Body Cameras earlier this summer after the city council approved the purchase in July. Chief Kevin Treadway said the city manager’s office also was supportive of the move to get body cams on Flagstaff officers.
The agency said a majority of all its patrol officers will be outfitted with the cameras.
“The use of on-officer video is expected to result in great transparency, more effective prosecution, more efficient citizen complaint investigations, and improved protection against false allegations of excessive use of force, misconduct or racial profiling,” a statement from the department said.
Various law enforcement agencies in Arizona and across the country already use body cams.
In May, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office took some heat after an Eloy officer shot a 25-year-old man who was armed and checking on a noise outside his home in the dark. Later that week, the PCSO released footage from the officer’s body cam that showed the Eloy resident fired at the officer first, even after being warned to put his gun down.
In Ferguson, Missouri, police officers began wearing body cams in late August after the controversial shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown led to riots and protests in the streets of the St. Louis suburb.
