Monterey Regional Airport police show off body cameras

In less than 24 hours Salinas will hear an update on the body cameras the Police Department has been testing out for officers.

Tonight News Channel 5 found another law enforcement agency in Monterey which has been using the cameras for years.

Officers at the Monterey Regional Airport say the body cameras have come in handy with solving cases.

Damon Hickerson has been with the Monterey Airport Police Department for 12 years and said he was all for getting the body cameras in 2012.

“I had a witness and a victim of a crime come to me and by turning on my camera and getting those first statements it helped later on in the case,” said Hickerson

The Monterey Regional Airport has 11,000 flights, carrying 400,000 passengers per year.

Flights to and from Vegas are the busiest times for Monterey police at the airport and they said that’s when the body cameras come in handy the most.

The airport’s Chief of Police, Jeff Hoyne said body cameras are an excellent component to solving a case but it’s just one component.

“Body cameras give one perspective of an incident. They give a particular snapshot in time they don’t show before or after that camera is turned on or off,” said Hoyne.

Being from Greenfield Altamarie Gonzales said she’s familiar with body cameras at her city’s station.

“I think it helps have validity for them in terms of anything that goes on and it shows proof of things. I think that’s great,” said Gonzales.

Hoyne said body camera evidence has been used several times when responding to calls on planes where people have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

But airport police also use them in the terminals and anytime they interact with the public.

“I think when people are on camera they behave better both from a civilian side and from a law enforcement side,” said Hoyne.

The body cameras run $700 to $900. Right now the department has six.

“You never know when that incident is going to come to your jurisdiction and your location and just having the ability to say that we’re able to obtain that clearer picture on camera really helps us,” said Hoyne.

Hoyne said one of the core values at the airport’s department is accountability, and the body cameras are a tool to remind them of that.