After the recent shooting of Walter Scott in North Charleston, the call for body cameras on law enforcement officers nationally has reached a fever pitch. But in South Carolina, 20-odd law enforcement agencies are currently wearing body cameras during duty — one of those being USCPD.
According to Eric Grabski, the community relations officer for USCPD, the department has had VIEVU body cameras since before 2012 when the they mandated that all uniformed officers wear the cameras.
“We definitely think they’re a good idea and, like I said, it provides that perspective that we would not otherwise have,” Grabski said.
For Grabski, the cameras provide a “valuable objective point of view.” They also provide video and audio evidence that would not otherwise have been accessible.
“The body cameras have been very helpful for us in terms of evidence, but also if there’s some type of question or complaint from the community,” Grabski said. “We’re able to go back and accurately see what transpired.”
The 68-degree lens of the high definition camera allows for the video to portray exactly what is being experienced by the officer, according to the VIEVU website. Other cameras, which offer a "fisheye" point of view, distort the proximity of objects and persons.
The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed a bill that would require state and local police officers to wear body cameras if passed by state legislature.
The bill was already passed unanimously out of a South Carolina senate subcommittee on April 15 and will now travel to the Senate floor for consideration.
“North Charleston brought this to global attention,” Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, told the Senate Judiciary Panel regarding the shooting of Walter Scott on April 4.
The House Judiciary Committee also passed their own version of a body camera bill, which would opt to conduct a study on the existing practices of law enforcement agencies using cameras rather than require them outright.
So far, Grabski said the cameras have been helpful in providing evidence in court and otherwise addressing complaints made by individuals or the community.
“If there’s some type of evidence that we need to retrieve, such as court or some type of complaint, we can go back,” he said. “We also sporadically go back and look for quality control purposes.”
Each camera outfitted to an officer costs USCPD around a total of $1000, a monetary amount that comes directly from USC’s Division of Law Enforcement and Safety’s budget.
“It wasn’t one incident that happened that spurred us to wear them but we just felt it was a good idea for our officers to wear them,” Grabski said.
If the body camera bill is passed and becomes a law, body cameras may start to be implemented to both state and local law enforcement around the state as soon as next year.