Arley Police adopts policy on body cameras

ARLEY - ‘Smile for the camera’ is a phrase which pertains to the Arley Police Department in today’s time, since they have been wearing body cameras the past several years. The APD adopted a standard operating procedure for using them at the Arley town meeting Monday, Oct. 7.
One issue, according to Jerry Cummings, chief of police, is for the department to remember to activate them when on a call. The SOP states the following are times when the body cam should be turned on:
• traffic stops;
• emergency responses;
• vehicle pursuits;
• suspicious vehicles;
• arrests and transports;
• vehicle searches;
• consent to search;
• physical/verbal confrontations or use of force;
• pedestrian checks;
• DUI investigations;
• domestic violence calls;
• Miranda rights advisements and
• warrants, among other times.
The police officers wearing the body cameras are not required to notify any subject they are being recorded but may do so, if deemed safe.
While referring to the SOP, Cummings stated it contained the times to turn it on and to turn it off.
“If you don’t get them turned on, turn them on as soon as possible,” Cummings stated. “The district attorney is tracking and trying to obtain video evidence. Everybody is going that.
“When we do a traffic stop, we try to turn them on right then,” he continued. “We’re going to have to get in the habit of turning them on. When you start getting out of the car (when stopping a suspicious vehicle), we start turning them on and leaving them on until we get through with the traffic stop or we get them to the jail.”