NEWS

Manitowoc, Two Rivers police find benefit in body cams

Abbey Schubert
Two Rivers Police Officer Jason Zipperer wears a body camera attached to the front of his uniform.

TWO RIVERS – The Two Rivers Police Department welcomed a new member to its team nine months ago. No, this new member was neither an officer nor a canine — but rather a camera.

The police department used a $5,000 Wisconsin Department of Transportation grant in late 2013 to purchase eight body cameras. The cameras were received by early 2014, and after learning the technology, officers began using them in September.

Today, Two Rivers police officers are expected to wear a body camera every shift and to activate the camera in most citizen contacts,excluding sensitive situations that may not be appropriate to record.

TRPD Assistant Chief of Police Brian Kohlmeier noted two main benefits of the cameras.

"First off, the more evidence we have, the better," Kohlmeier said. "It is the ability for officers to more readily record interviews or interactions with citizens for evidentiary purposes.

"Another reason is to deal with citizens' complaints," Kohlmeier said. "It isn't that we are inundated with citizens' complaints and therefore felt we needed to get cameras to deal with them, but one of the benefits of having the body cameras is that you have another perspective there, and you have more information there to look into a particular complaint."

Kohlmeier said the department's experience with the cameras has been positive. He pointed to two instances in which citizen complaints against officers were dismissed after reviewing footage from the cameras.

"In one of the situations, the person had made an accusation about the officer — that he didn't treat them very well, he may have used excessive force or wasn't using appropriate language," Kohlmeier said. "And then once we reviewed the body camera, we determined that that wasn't actually the case. Instead, the officer did what he was supposed to and was appropriate, so it exonerated the officer."

Manitowoc resident Bobbi Bennett-Tuma, 58, supports this protective element of the cameras.

"I think the body cameras are a good thing," Bennett-Tuma said. "The more protection our police officers have, the better off they are."

Manitowoc Assistant Police Chief Nick Reimer uploads footage from a body camera.

Body cameras are also in use in Manitowoc. The Manitowoc Police Department introduced body cameras to officers several years ago.

The MPD has found many of the same benefits of the cameras, including solidifying evidence and dealing with citizen complaints. However, Assistant Chief of Police Nick Reimer mentioned one drawback.

"The cameras are attached to your chest or shoulder area, so you have a limited line of vision," Reimer said. "It's not a video camera where you can just take this big wide angle like we're used to; it's limited in that area."

To Ryan Menges, a 23-year-old Manitowoc resident, the video's limitation isn't the only potential obstacle.

"In a way, lack of privacy could be an issue," Menges said. "But then again, the video can really make a difference in a crucial case, whether it's in a good or bad way."

Discussion of police body cameras has changed in recent years. Incidents of alleged police abuse in Ferguson, Missouri; Baltimore and other places have left citizens and police brainstorming ways of providing evidence in such cases. Body cameras are often suggested as one solution.

Both departments, however, purchased body cameras prior to any of these major events.

The departments foresee body cameras becoming standard in departments across the country.

"When I look at the law enforcement publications that come out, especially in the last few months, it's hard to get a publication that doesn't have something about body cameras in it," Kohlmeier said. "There's definitely been a push, and there's been quite a change in the discussion of it in the law enforcement profession."

Reach Abbey Schubert at 920-686-2140 and aschubert@gannett.com.