Parsippany Police Introduce New Body Cameras

PARSIPPANY, NJ — Check out the new bling Parsippany police officers are sporting. As of Thursday evening, officers are wearing Motorola V300 Body-Worn Camera — more commonly known as body cameras.

Police will wear them outside their outermost garment in the upper-chest area.

"BWCs will assist in capturing an unbiased and accurate account of an incident, which will further strengthen the trust and transparency our department has with the public," the Parsippany Police Department's Facebook post says.

The use of police body cameras and the laws around them continue to evolve in New Jersey. A 2020 survey from the New Jersey Office of Attorney General found that only 6 of 40 Morris County law-enforcement agencies used them: the Boonton, Dover, Long Hill, Madison, Morris Township and Morristown Police Departments.

Now, all officers in New Jersey must wear them because of a law Gov. Phil Murphy signed in November 2020.

Murphy signed a bill into law Tuesday that will allow officers to review body-camera footage before completing initial reports. Some exceptions apply in matters such as the use of firearms, deaths and violations of use-of-force policies.

The New Jersey State Police Benevolent Association advocated for the law.

"The law will ensure accuracy in countless police reports and assist officers to properly record a situation," the state PBA wrote on Facebook.

But several advocates for police reform have criticized the law, including the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

“The problem with allowing officers to view body camera footage before they write reports is that it becomes impossible to later separate what an officer remembers from what they learned by watching the tape," said Tess Borden, staff attorney for the ACLU-NJ.

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