Lancaster to roll out body camera pilot program
FILE: A body camera as worn by York City Police Officer James Knarr. (Photo: Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record)
(Harrisburg) — Police officers in Lancaster will soon be wearing body cameras.
The latest midstate city to experiment with the technology, Lancaster is planning to start a pilot program next month with up to a dozen police officers participating.
The pilot is meant to give city leaders an idea of how the cameras will be used in daily police work and investigations and how much digital storage will be needed to preserve the video.
Under a draft policy governing the use of the cameras, all video will be saved for a minimum of 75 days.
Mayor Danene Sorace said it’s based on recommendations from the U.S. Justice Department and the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.
“And we’re going to continue to assess our policy over time and make any course corrections that we need to,” Sorace said.
Officers will need to start recording whenever they interact with a member of the public.
Lancaster City Council’s public safety committee is scheduled to hold a meeting Tuesday, October 23rd to introduce the policy and gather feedback from the community.
Police in Carlisle, York, and Springettsbury Township, York County, already use body cameras.
Harrisburg put its program on hold until next year.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
