GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — Some Green Bay Police Officers already have body cameras on.
The department’s sergeants put on the cameras for the first time this week.
Captain Ben Allen is overseeing the rollout.
“Our sergeants are out actually wearing them, using them,” Allen told WTAQ. “That started on Monday.”
All sergeants will be using them by next week. They’re the second group to do so. The city’s SWAT team started using the cameras in February, shortly after they were acquired by the department.
Allen says officers are, for the most part, looking forwards to getting to use them.
“There’s some anxiety,” Allen admitted. “It’s new technology. Yet, they’re excited about it because they’re going to help show what’s really happening out there.”
Allen says the most difficult part of the rollout hasn’t been the use of the cameras themselves–those are user-friendly–but the back-end infrastructure required to store the footage long-term.
A $2.7 million contract with Axon was signed last year, giving the police department access to body cameras, new tasers, and squad car cameras. The Green Bay Packers pitched in $757,000 to help cover the costs.
