NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Officials with the Metro Nashville Police Department started installing in-car cameras as part of the long-awaited police body camera program.
A team from Texas arrived this week to help begin installing three cameras inside each patrol vehicle at the Metro Police Headquarters, which will work in tandem with the body cameras. More than 90 Metro officers and 65 vehicles from West Precinct will be equipped with the cameras first.
With outfitting 20 vehicles a week, the installation process could last through the end of August.
The officers are also undergoing training this week on how to use body cameras. MNPD spokesperson Don Aaron said almost all of the equipment has been received.
Mayor John Cooper announced that Metro police will fully deploy the body camera program starting in July. Metro’s budget crisis nearly stalled the program again until the camera’s vendor, Motorola, agreed to install them now and begin charging the city later. Metro leaders say it will cost two million dollars a year at a fraction of the staff.
MNPD IT Director John Singleton said one goal is to make uploading footage a smooth process. The West Precinct already had an IT infrastructure in place. Officers will get to send the footage wirelessly from the car using high-speed WiFi.
“We are installing multiple access points throughout the parking lots at the precincts designed such a way that would maximize that,” Singleton said. “We’ve been preparing for this for a long time.”
Community advocates have been wanting cameras since two high-profile officer-involved shootings in the last few years. After years of skepticism and frustration, the program is slowly coming into fruition.
In a statement last month, the Community Oversight Board said body and in-car cameras are a step in the right direction. However, the statement mentioned how they won’t be the sole solution in fixing systemic problems.
COP Director Jill Fitcheard said she had reached out to police about a week ago for an update. She said she’s glad to see progress is being made.
Even though the program is starting out at West Precinct first, the goal is to equip more than 1,300 officers and more than 700 patrol vehicles by February 2021.
