Livingston PD Working To Outfit Officers With New Body Cam Equipment

Livingston Police Department moving forward to implement new body cams for its officers.

Chief Ray Smith said after the Board of Aldermen approved the purchase the next step will be to get all 20 cams and get each officer outfitted with the new one.

“We were allowed to get loaner cameras so we could go out on the job and see what it had recorded, how it had recorded, and the quality of the video,” Smith said. “And it really was a good process, and it has good documentation and good records.”

Smith said the department received one bid for the cameras at around $995 per camera. He said they needed to replace the old equipment because the previous company decided to stop producing body cams.

Smith said an added plus is that surrounding agencies also use this type of camera. He said body cams are important for a number reasons, including for documenting and safety purposes.

“It’s a great tool we can use here in Livingston in the city and also for other things,” Smith said. “On documentation, it can help us keep track of things we might have missed whether they’re seen or heard, it can bring them back up for notation or writing reports for anything from a traffic accident to something you go on a call for service.”

Smith said they hope to fully rotate out the old equipment within the next month.