Santa Cruz Police launch body camera program

The Santa Cruz Police Department is launching a body-worn camera pilot test Wednesday.

“We are excited to finally bring this body-camera initiative to our department,” said Deputy Chief Rick Martinez. “It speaks directly to our desire to be transparent with our community.”

The department said the overall goal of the body worn camera program is to increase trust with the community by recording law enforcement encounters with the public.

11 patrol officers will wear the body cameras during a month-long trial period. The officers wearing the cameras will participate in a mandatory training session before patrol use.

Santa Cruz PD said they’ve spent time researching other agencies using the devices (Santa Cruz County Sheriff, Capitola PD, Salinas PD, Gilroy PD and San Jose PD) and studied federal directives to prepare for the implementation of body cameras in the City of Santa Cruz.

The video footage captured during the testing period is considered the same as the police dashboard camera video. The department said if the video becomes evidence, under the Evidence Codes and the Public Records Acts, it cannot be released.

The cost to outfit the entire department with body cameras would be $390,000.