CHLOE KOWALYK
Managing Editor
ALYSSA BUMP
Editor in Chief
Starting this week, University Police will protect and serve SUNY Fredonia’s campus under surveillance. The department will now be equipped with body-worn cameras, and police officers will wear them while on duty.
Last Tuesday, Sept. 27, the campus community received an email from Marketing and Communications that contained a message from Brent Isaacson, the Chief of University Police.
Isaacson informed the campus community about how the cameras work, when they will be activated and why this decision has been made.
Body-worn cameras are used to monitor the actions of both the police officer and the people involved in the incident. Isaacson said, “The idea of a body camera is that it is an objective record of what happens whenever an officer is dealing with a citizen, an emergency or responding to a call.”
Body camera footage is often used as a record of how the incident occurred, and is often used in court. “It just allows law enforcement to collect more and better evidence and evidence that’s objective,” Isaacson said.
The decision to get the cameras is the result of a several month attempt. In a phone interview, Isaacson said, “The body cameras are expensive, and [we had to prioritize] that expense with other priority equipment that we need for the police department.”
Isaacson said he “wanted to have body cameras for as long as [he’s] been chief,” which has been a little over three years. The final decision to get the cameras was made around January once police received funding approval.
While the decision wasn’t made as a result of a mandate, Isaacson predicted that the use of body cameras will become required in the future.
The cameras are turned on by the officers once they are responding to a call. Isaacson explained that the cameras are “very simple to use,” and have two small buttons on them. He added that calls ranging from someone locking themselves out of their car to more serious situations will be recorded with the body cameras.
However, Isaacson mentioned that certain “sensitive situations” would not merit the use of body cameras. He gave the example of officers talking to a victim of sexual assault right after the incident, where a victim may be in a vulnerable state. “An area of heightened privacy and sensitivity would be an example where we [would] potentially not [record],” Isaacson said.
Isaacson also wanted to specify that the footage would stay in the university, and would be well-protected. He noted that the footage would be “tightly controlled,” and only used in the event of a court proceeding.
Ilene Thompson, president of the Student Association, said she had “mixed feelings” about the decision. However, Thompson expressed that the implementation of body cameras is a positive change, and she hopes they are used to protect students correctly.
Many other SUNY colleges such as Geneseo, New Paltz, Oswego, Canton and Brockport have implemented body-worn cameras within the last four years. This growing trend was referenced in Isaacson’s original email to the campus community.
After The Leader posted on their Instagram story asking students what their thoughts were regarding the new use of body cameras, students who responded seemed to be in agreement.
A majority of the responses were in shock that University Police did not already have body cameras, and were curious as to why.
Isaacson hopes that now, the body cameras will foster a sense of trust between students and police. “If there’s a concern, if a member of the public has what they perceive to be a negative interaction with a police officer … I as the head of the agency can review that,” he said.
The body cameras help ensure both the officer and the person involved have evidence as to how the incident occurred.