Santa Barbara Police Department Issues Body Worn Cameras to Officers
Source: Santa Barbara Police Department
In July of 2021, the Santa Barbara Police Department began testing body-worn cameras for sworn personnel. In December 2021, SBPD started outfitting its patrol officers with these cameras. Over the course of nearly two months, all field operation patrol officers and a majority of other divisional sworn personnel have been issued and are wearing the cameras in the field.
Body worn cameras are attached to the exterior of the Officer’s uniform in a conspicuous place. Santa Barbara Police Officers are required to activate their individual body camera during all enforcement and investigative contacts, including stops and field interview situations. For a full review of the SBPD Portable and Mobile Audio/Video Recorder policy, go to Santa Barbara - Department Policies (santabarbaraca.gov).
Although not a panacea for all problems police face, body worn cameras have been shown to provide positive outcomes to both officers and community members. Research suggests officers are able to capture valuable evidence, and generally both officers and community members are in favor of body worn cameras. In some circumstances, body worn cameras have been shown to reduce complaints against police officers, reduce police use of force, and increase perceptions of procedural justice. All of this will bolster the relationship between the diverse communities of Santa Barbara and the police officers who serve them.
Requests for the release of any audio/video recordings shall be processed in accordance with the California Public Records Act and policy of the Santa Barbara Police Department.
17 Comments
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Mar 10, 2022 08:16 PMFor gosh sake - even Police Departments in podunk towns in rural Alabama have body cameras. I wish the body worn cameras didn't have an off button - so many times they get turned off when they shouldn't be.
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Mar 11, 2022 11:19 AMGeneral Tree, you are EXACTLY right!!! There should not be an option to turn the camera off! Not ever.
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Mar 11, 2022 01:09 PMCamera's are a win for everyone, but obviously they have to have an on-off button (with clearly defined times of when that is appropriate). I mean do you really want to go down the rabbit hold of police recording while they go to the bathroom...?
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Mar 12, 2022 02:34 AMYou know who doesn't have body cameras?
The CHP.
If you want to be upset, direct it there.
They have 237 cameras for 7,600 officers.
I first read about it in a national paper. Google something like news chp body cameras for more information.
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Mar 11, 2022 05:07 AMThis is not something to criticize, GT.
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Mar 11, 2022 08:22 AMThank goodness protection for all. Too many good cops are out there. Let’s see who is responsible for crimes. Keep our city safe. Thank you.
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Mar 11, 2022 10:09 AMThe on off button is for several purposes.
Personal privacy while eating, using the bathroom.
Field interviews with confidential informants
Field interviews with rape victims.
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Mar 11, 2022 12:27 PMYeah, the technology isn't there. They should never be able to turn them off unless cleared by higher ups.
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Mar 11, 2022 11:18 AMABOUT TIME!!!
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Mar 11, 2022 01:57 PMThey could make 500 good, clean arrests, but as soon as they blow it while arresting a BIPOC, there will be a huge outcry about racist cops.
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Mar 11, 2022 09:19 PMHuh? I would say if cops "blow it" while arresting a person of color and not while arresting 500 non people of color, then yeah... there's some bias there. It's embedded in the system of policing, but based on your comment you don't care to learn about a construct that doesn't fit your own agenda.
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Mar 12, 2022 07:22 AMThanks for inserting "non people of color" and changing the meaning of my statement so you could construct an agenda for me.
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Mar 11, 2022 02:08 PMThe soon to be retiring DA wasn't a fan, they actually provide hard, factual, true evidence rather than the allowance of fabricating false narratives and cover ups so fondly loved by the retiring DA.
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Mar 11, 2022 09:05 PMBodyworn cameras were briefly tested long before 2021 at SBPD. It’s a bit puzzling why they would misrepresent the facts
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Mar 12, 2022 02:50 AMIt's necessary to use more than one news source.
Grand Jury press release April 2017: https://www.noozhawk.com/article/santa_barbara_grand_jury_report_body_cameras_law_enforcement
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Feb. 2021 KEYT
https://keyt.com/news/santa-barbara-s-county/2021/02/08/santa-barbara-police-to-turn-on-body-cameras-later-this-year/
"The Santa Barbara Police Department got the green light to purchase body worn cameras.
Anthony Wagner, spokesman for the police department, said the WatchGuard body cameras will compliment the WatchGuard audio and video cameras they have mounted in about 50 patrol cars. They started using them five year ago after trying cameras from about six other vendors. The new system should be up and running in 3-6 months."
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Nothing on KEYT or Noozhawk, but there's this press release and
"Thu Mar 10, 2022 | 4:42pm
https://www.independent.com/2022/03/10/santa-barbara-police-officers-now-outfitted-with-body-cams/
Santa Barbara’s police force will now be recording all interactions via brand-new body cams, which began in a test phase last July and were implemented for all field officers over two months starting at the end of 2021, according to Santa Barbara Police Department Public Information Officer Ethan Ragsdale.
The push for the body-worn cameras started with former Santa Barbara police chief Cam Sanchez in 2015, when the department purchased a set of five cameras to explore the idea, and then expanded into a wider test-run at the end of Lori Luhnow’s time as chief a year ago."
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Mar 12, 2022 05:45 AMIt looks like Mr Wagner stated the true testing timeline and even mentioned the brand.
No transparency from the current PIO. :-(
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Mar 12, 2022 11:31 AMTo all who seem to be concerned about the fact that they have an on/off button, these devices do not shut off the second they are pressed, it's a slow shut off, usually about 60 seconds or more so they keep recording as they are being shut down. This aids in transparency and allows the wearer to get his club ready to beat someone senseless after the camera is off and not recording. Hopefully no pesky iphone aspiring sundance entrants are around, that really makes it murky.