Smyrna Police Introduce Body Cameras

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Smyrna police officers will have one more item of gear to put on when the get ready for their shifts on Wednesday.

All officers assigned to the patrol division, detectives, street crimes, K-9, crime prevention, S.T.E.P., D.U.I. Task Force and park rangers will now be required to wear one of 75 body cameras the department purchased for a grand total of $68,140, the department announced in a release.

“Essentially, all Smyrna Officers coming into contact with civilians will be required by policy to use body worn cameras,” department spokesman Chris Graeff said.

Police will use the footage from the cameras to aid the prosecution of lawbreakers, but the footage will also be crucial for investigating citizen complaints into officer misconduct. Some body camera footage may later be used as training aids and for public affairs purposes, the department said.

Graeff said that the cameras were purchased with the intent of, “increasing transparency and being proactive with community policing.”

Smyrna police are under investigation by the GBI after one of their officers shot and killed an unarmed suspect who was being sought for arrest in March of this year.

On March 24, Sgt. Kenneth Owens and officers Graeff and Mark Cole were joined by four Cobb County police officers in an attempt to serve an arrest warrant on 23-year-old Nicholas Thomas, who was working at the Goodyear inside the Vinings Crossing shopping center.

Police say that when Thomas saw the officers approaching, he drove a customer’s white Maserati around the building several times in a reckless manner, and then drove straight at the officers. At this point, police say that Owens feared for his safety and fired at the Maserati, killing Thomas.

Thomas’ autopsy revealed that he was shot in the back; the medical examiner determined Thomas was killed by a bullet which entered his body from his right upper back and stopped at his left upper chest, the Marietta Daily Journal writes. The bullet passed through Thomas’ aorta and punctured his lung, the autopsy says.