Leander Police Order New Body Cams After Glitches

LEANDER, TX — The Leander Police Department on Monday ordered new body cameras after glitches in their existing ones rendered them largely ineffective, according to a published report.

Lt. Derral Partin of the Leander police force told KXAN some of the cameras currently in operation would get overly hot — giving rise to fears they might melt or catch fire — or not turn on turn on altogether. Partin told the news station the department has gone through three sets of body cameras from the same vendor in a span of the past two-and-a-half years alone.

Another officer told the station his body camera didn't capture critical images at a DWI stop because the the footage came out too dark. Sometimes, the cameras don't work at at all, failing to capture images at police stops, Partin added.

The new body cameras ordered will automatically start recording when an officer turns on the lights or opens the door to the patrol car or whenever a police-issued firearm is drawn. “It protects the good officers also, it protects the citizens and it tells an accurate picture of what happened,” Partin told KXAN in describing the tools' importance.

The police force is expected to receive the replacement body cams in about two weeks after a municipal expenditure of $257,000 for 57 units.

KXAN noted the Round Rock Police Department continues to use the L-3 Mobile Vision model of body cameras from the same vendor from which its Leander counterpart is switching. But Round Rock police told the news station they haven't experienced the same problems as in Leander, and their in-house IT team works closely with the vendor when issues arise.

>>> Read the full story at KXAN

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