Brazoria, TX- The Brazoria Police Department recently purchased 8 WOLFCOM 3rd Eye Police Body Cameras. The purchase also consisted of car kits and mounts and radio cables so officers can hook up their units to radios to utilize the radio speaker function. Sgt. Carlos Garcia says that the department decided to purchase police body cameras when they lost their budget for patrol car-mounted dashboard cameras. “We wanted to protect ourselves against false allegations… it was their word vs. ours, so we looked into getting body cameras,” said Garcia.
The department tried out another type of body camera first but switched to WOLFCOM’s 3RD EYE camera mainly for its night vision capabilities. “With the cameras we were using before, at night you would get audio, but no video,” explained Garcia. Garcia says the cameras have proved helpful in disproving some complaint claims made against their police officers. “Some criminals will make complaints, but we can always back it up with body camera footage to disprove allegations that aren’t true,” said Garcia.
“I think body cameras are a lot better than car cameras with car cameras there’s a risk that the officer can go out of frame, especially if an officer goes into a house for a domestic violence call, a car camera isn’t going to capture that with body cameras, you see everything. Even when you’re searching a car and find narcotics, the camera captures exactly what the officer sees, so no one can say something was planted.” Garcia says some police officers were reluctant to using the body cameras at first, but they’ve gotten used to them. Now wearing them is mandatory in the department. “They didn’t think they were going to like them, but they like ‘em now. We’re glad we got them, they back us up.”
Garcia says the officers like the clear HD picture and the clarity of the night vision. “It’s great, you see everything really clear, it’s a real good picture. They also like the capability of taking still shots, the recording time and battery life are great and you can use it as a radio mic” says Garcia.