HUNTINGTON BEACH – After more than a year of lobbying, several sessions of hard questioning and opposition from within his own department, Huntington Beach Police Chief Robert Handy overcame a divided City Council to gain support for the use of body cameras.
After a fractious debate, the council voted 4-3 Tuesday night to approve the purchase of 50 body cameras and 50 phones with video capability – down from the 150 cameras Handy originally requested. Handy told the council that virtually all of the $290,000 cost of the program would be covered by grant funding.
Council members Mike Posey, Dave Sullivan, Barbara Delgleize and Erik Peterson supported the program. Mayor Jim Katapodis and council members Billy O’Connell and Jill Hardy were opposed.
Proponents said they agreed with Handy that the use of the cameras is quickly becoming standard in police work, that it reduces police use of force and bolsters community support.
Peterson said body cameras are “the way going forward,” and added that he supported “any technology that’s a force multiplier.”
In voicing his dissent, Katapodis said he didn’t believe the technology was developed enough to warrant implementation and that the department had myriad other needs.
“I don’t think we’re there yet,” he said.
Huntington Beach follows Tustin in becoming the latest Orange County city to approve body cameras for its force. Fullerton has had the cameras since 2015 and Anaheim also has full implementation. At least six cities in the county have studied using the cameras.
No date has been set to start the program in Huntington Beach.
Handy told the council that Huntington Beach is one of few police departments without either body cameras or dashboard devices. Although the officers have belt-worn audio recorders, they are rarely used, Handy said.
“We’re way behind other departments in documenting and recording the work that officers do,” he said. “In fact, we’re at the bottom.”
Handy said studies across the country consistently show that the use of cameras reduces both use of force and complaints. This subsequently leads to reduced time in courts, he said.
Handy also noted that in three of the past four years, the Police Department has set aside grant money to go to body cameras and has been upgrading technology, storage and software to support the program.
Dave Humphreys, president of the police association board, told the council that 95 percent of his membership said there are many areas other than body-worn cameras that needed addressing. He added the cameras would “cripple ongoing police services.”
Four officers with the association spoke in opposition to the use of the cameras. They argued that police had much more pressing problems to deal with and better uses for grant money.
The cameras, they said, add unnecessary burdens on an already understaffed department. They added that beat cops who are already stretched thin would be furthered hampered, particularly in time, training and staff needed to make the program work.
“Do the math,” said Brandon Reed, a police officer. “We are dangerously short.”
Handy said his discussions with other police departments has not borne out that the workload will be increased in the long run, although he acknowledged there will be a learning curve at first.
Council members exchanged barbs among themselves and directed some sharp questions at Handy.
At one point, O’Connell, holding up two of the police cameras, asked rhetorically, “If I were a victim of crime, would I want an officer with one of these (cameras) or a gun that works?”
That prompted Peterson to ask Handy, “Have there been any reports of having police with guns that don’t work?”
That was indicative of the exchanges throughout the protracted discussion and debate.
After O’Connell’s motion that the vote be postponed for six months to gather more data was defeated, the council approved the request.
Handy said the use of body cameras answers both a departmental need and community demands.
“I think it will save money in the long run,” he said. “I think it will save some cops from being hurt. And I think it will save them and the city from lawsuits.”
