Protesters gathering in cities around the United States are calling for law enforcement reform following the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last month. Among the items some demonstrators have been lobbying for is the increased use of police body cameras as well as policies requiring they be running whenever an officer is in the field.
Here is a summary of when police departments in northern Johnson County began deploying body cameras in the field.
Fairway
All officers started wearing cameras in 2009, Chief David Brown said.
Leawood
The department began deploying body cameras to most uniformed officers in 2015. Currently, there are 51 cameras in the field. Command staff do not wear body cameras.
Lenexa
Public relations officer Danny Chavez said cameras were deployed in 2009
Merriam
Chief Darren McLaughlin said body cameras were deployed in 2009.
Mission
Purchasing approval for body cameras was given in March 2015, Chief Ben Hadley said. By October 2015, the cameras were deployed in the field.
Overland Park
Public information officer John Lacy said body cameras were “fully implemented” on Nov. 18, 2019.
Prairie Village
All “operational officers” began wearing body cameras officially on April 1, 2020, Capt. Eric McCullough said. Detectives, motorcycle units and school resource officers began wearing body cameras sooner Cameras and microphones have been in “all marked vehicles for over 20 years,” McCullough said.
Roeland Park
Chief John Morris said body cameras and patrol car cameras were implemented in 2003.
Shawnee
Body cameras are a “a standard piece of equipment,” Major Jim Baker said. Utilization of the cameras began in 2017.
Westwood
Deployed body cameras on officers in 2015, Chief Greg O’Halloran said.
All departments are subject to the policies of disclosing footage from body cameras and other law enforcement recording devices like vehicle cameras or microphones as dictated by the Kansas Open Records Act. These records can also be obtained as criminal investigation evidence. People who are the subject or the guardian of the subject of a video can request access as well.
