Ross adopts policy for new police body cameras

Ross Township police officers are on track to be issued body-worn cameras by the end of summer.

Commissioners voted unanimously June 15 to approve a policy governing the police department’s use of body cameras to record encounters between law enforcement officers and the public.

The process of obtaining the cameras began in mid-2018 with a grant application to the state Department of Crime and Delinquency, said police Chief Joe Ley.

A draft of the body camera policy was reviewed and approved by the U.S. Dept. of Justice, the township’s police union and the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office, the chief said.

“I’m confident that we have a solid body-worn camera policy in place,” he said. “The cameras should be here in one to two weeks.”

Before being issued body cameras, officers will have to undergo “extensive” training on their use as well as the township’s policies on when and how they should be deployed.

Ley said officers are expected to begin using the cameras in August.

The policy requires that cameras be worn during an officer’s entire shift and that it remain running until an incident is over. They are permitted to narrate the action being recorded.

Officers will be required to note that a body camera was in use when they file in an incident and arrest reports.

The police department’s command staff will conduct a “just cause” review of any incidents involving:

• Injury to an officer or suspect

• Use of force

• Vehicle pursuits and the actions taken after it ends

A police department supervisor will be required to take custody of an officer’s body-worn camera and turn it over to a member of the command staff following incidents such as officer-involved shootings, in-custody deaths and other encounters with police that result in serious injury or death.

A copy of the new policy can be viewed online.