Freeport PD to Get Body, Dashboard Cameras

Freeport Police Department will reportedly be the first in the state to equip their entire force with body and dashboard cameras.

On-duty officers and marked police cars will be equipped with the new cameras, Freeport PD and Acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced Thursday.

Asset forfeiture funds totaling $108,000 will be used to establish the program, which will be implemented for all patrol officers and cars, the DA said.

The cameras will provide new ways to record victim injuries and statements, document defendants’ actions at the time of arrests, gather evidence, and provide footage to be viewed by juries, officials said.

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“We’ve had great success in diffusing situations,” said Freeport Police Department Chief Miguel Bermudez, according to Newsday. “It gives us a chance to speak to crime victims and record what they just went to in the moment it happened. ... It works wonderfully for this department and our officers embraced it.”

The cameras have been used at the department on a trial basis for about a year, according to the report.

Nassau Police Insp. Kenneth Lack said the county’s department was finalizing its pilot program to add cameras, according to the report.

“I’m not going to speak for the Nassau County Police Department, but clearly we are interested in gathering evidence as prosecutors, that’s our primary goal, to prosecute cases effectively, so we would encourage that and I think this will be a great experiment and roll out to demonstrate how valuable it will be,” Singas added, according to the report.

Body cameras are “cigar-shaped devices that are visibly worn under an officer’s epaulet at shoulder level, and are activated by officers by pressing a button located at the officer’s belt or shirt pocket,” the DA said.

The in-car dashboard cameras will be mounted in all 16 of Freeport’s marked police vehicles and four unmarked cars. The cameras will activate automatically when overhead police lights are turned on, officials said.

“This groundbreaking crime-fighting program will have a positive impact for the hardworking police officers who patrol our streets every day, and for the people they are sworn to protect,” Singas said. “By funding these programs, my office is sending a strong message that we are putting a priority on keeping officers, and the communities they serve, safe.”

Photo via NCDA

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