Burnsville Police First To Use Body Cameras

Burnsville Police First To Use Body Cameras

BURNSVILLE, Minn. (WCCO) — The Burnsville Police Department was the first law enforcement agency in the state to use body cameras when it started equipping officers with the technology last summer.

Officers credit the video tool for helping them capture a much better image of what is going on when they are out on the streets. They have also helped clear cases of allegations of police misconduct in a matter of minutes instead of several weeks.

Officer Shaun Anselment said he can’t imagine going out on patrol without his video tool.

“We are able to get the true emotions at the scene,” he said. “We are able to see what officers did, what suspects did.”

Anselment said he is happy to show video, which goes into a computer on his belt, to someone he has stopped for a traffic violation. In one case, a woman denied she ran a stop sign.

“I said, ‘Ma’am, here’s what happened.’ She apologized and went on her way,” he said.

The cameras, made by Taser, are usually worn on an officer’s hat or on a headband.

video.minneapolis.cbslocal.com... Police First To Use Body Cameras&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

This has been a topic of discussion in these forums, so when I saw this article I thought I would post it and see what conversations come from it. Attached to the link is acvtual footage of the bodycam. As you can see from the article, Officers do not have issues with cameras, and in this case they credit the body cam with helping others understand what it is we come up against and how it can go wrong, or right, in a split second.

I think it is a good idea as well, so long as the video from the camera is made available to all parties involved. If a lady feels that a cop frivolously stopped her just so he could look down her shirt, she should be able to get the footage..

Ok extreme example.. lol But seriously, it would help streamline things. Since the word of a cop is apparently worth more than the word of a normal citizen in court, this could help even things out a bit.

Originally posted by rogerstigers
I think it is a good idea as well, so long as the video from the camera is made available to all parties involved. If a lady feels that a cop frivolously stopped her just so he could look down her shirt, she should be able to get the footage..

Ok extreme example.. lol But seriously, it would help streamline things. Since the word of a cop is apparently worth more than the word of a normal citizen in court, this could help even things out a bit.

Actualy its not an extreme example. An accusation like that could easily cause an officer to be placed on suspension pending an investigation from IA, as well as for criminal charges. The one thing I dont completely agree with is the removal of the Dash cams from their cars and only placing them on the officers themselves.

Personally speaking I would prefer to have the dash cam, as well as body cams, since we know all to well how a camera does not always catch the entire story.

California is the state testing out the cameras on the duty weapons, and so far I have not seen any reccomendations come from them yet. The large majority of States whos agencies use dash cams are required by law to kep the video on record as evidence.

In my state we are required to submit all dash cam footage that deals with traffic violations (speeding, DWI/DUI, pursuits etc). Just as with any evidence, it is required to be turned over when the defense files their motion of discovery.

I think the body cams are a very good idea for many reasons. The big one for me though is use of force and what exactly occured during those encounters. I do beleive that this type of video footage could go a long way to help people understand exactly what we encounter while doing our job. Its not always as black and white as people argue it should be. In addition it can show how quickly something can go wrong, and the split second snap judgment on the officer reactions.

reply to post by Xcathdra


Sounds like a good thing to me - a tool that would help cops weed out false complaints and establish evidence. Also, it sounds like it would help weed out bad cops as it seems this would do away with much of "the video doesn't tell the whole story" thing that happens so often.

Like you, I don't agree with doing away with the dash cams. The only downside I see of these (from a citizen's viewpoint) is if things did get a bit rough the camera could either be knocked off (or the officer could say it was knocked off) and then their would be no record.