Folsom Police Praise Body Camera Use As Tool For Investigations

FOLSOM (CBS13) — There are still questions and doubts surrounding what led to the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, at the hands of a police officer.

The controversy has sparked a push to put more cameras on police officers, which is something Folsom Police have been doing for years.

It's a simple push for Folsom officers to turn on the cameras on their chest.

It seems the Obama administration believes the high-tech eyes may be part of the answer to improving police and community relations across the country, especially in the wake of the unrest sparked by the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Brown by a white police officer, Darren Wilson.

President Barack Obama announced a request for Congress to spend $75 million on 50,000 of the cameras for police departments.

Sgt. Jason Browning says since 2008 the cameras have come in handy when questions arise about officers' conduct.

"The importance of having the best evidence, which is video, has become even more and more important," he said.

Officer Andrew Bates wears one, and says it offers a different perspective than a common police dash cam.

"People tend to remember what they are seeing, and it's based on the emotion they had at the time, so sometimes they'll read a tone or even a word that wasn't actually spoken," he said. "We can go back to the video and we can see what they saw from the officers point of view."

The initiative has support from civil rights leaders. In Folsom, the officers are excited for the possibility of getting more.

Folsom Police say due to storage limits, video is deleted if it is considered unneeded after a certain period of days or weeks.