Body cams, the rage of law enforcement nationwide, are coming to Culver City, Police Chief Scott Bixby estimates, in about a year.
Funding, paying for them, is the issue surrounding the fallout from a rash of nationwide controversial police shootings/killings in the last 10 months.
“There are logistics and legalities, privacy issues, things like that to be worked out,” Mr. Bixby said. “I believe it is not a matter of ‘if we get body cams’ but ‘when.’ In the long run, body cams are a positive thing.
“Probably all of the law enforcement profession eventually will have dash cams and body cams, too.”
The Police Dept.’s feasibility exploration “is in the infancy stage,” the chief said.
Cost is a volatile experience.
“Prices of the cameras vary wildly,” he said. “I have heard prices anywhere from a hundred dollars to a thousand dollars per camera. The dash cams we are getting do have another component of body cams, which obviously are compatible. That is a good thing.
“We made sure that is the case so that if we do go down that road, we have all compatible equipment.”
Chief Bixby said that two of his officers currently carry their own body cams.
Next is developing a policy on how body cams are to be employed.
“We need to decide on parameters,” he said, “because this is what I am thinking about:
“You go into somebody’s house, the body cams are rolling, and a lot of times you catch people at their worst, or maybe in compromising situations, various stages of dressed or undressed.
“Different little things need to be worked out.”
