Though financial and logistical obstacles remain, the Princeton Police Department (PPD) is on track to adopt the use of body cameras for its officers, according to police spokesman Lieutenant Jon Bucchere.

Thirty thousand dollars in grant money has been promised by the state, and the PPD is looking for additional sources of funding, possibly from Princeton and Rider Universities. Costs for different body cam models range widely, with additional significant budgeting required for video storage. 

“Having the body cameras will provide greater transparency in day-to-day action,” Mr. Bucchere said, “and complement the technology that we already use.”

He added, “We’re dedicated to keeping with national best practices. There’s a movement toward police officers using body cams, and we want to be part of that, as soon as we can logistically put the pieces in place.”

He noted the value of dashboard cameras, which have been used in police vehicles for many years, and he stated that body cams would be even more valuable.

“With everything going on in the country and locally recently, the body cam provides greater transparency and greater perspective beyond the scope and range of the dashboard cam. You want to be as transparent as possible. That’s the direction we’re heading in.”

Mr. Bucchere described how the technology for body cameras continues to improve. “It gets better and better,” he said. The cameras, usually clipped to the shirt front, “are smaller, and the batteries last longer.”

 Police Chief Nick Sutter has stated that body cams will increase the public’s confidence in the Police Department in helping to accurately represent what actually happens in police-civilian encounters.

Policy decisions about protection of privacy and access to public records must also be put in place before final implementation of a body cam program.

Many police departments throughout the country have adopted body cameras, though some controversy remains over the reliability of videos to accurately record encounters and about the possibility
that cameras can be an inhibiting factor when use of force by police is appropriate.