We told you that the Boynton Beach Police Department is now the latest law enforcement agency in Palm Beach County to outfit its officers with body cameras. In fact, Police Chief Jeffrey Katz tells me all 86 road patrol officers actually have access to two cams each. One is while they're on-duty and the other is when they are off duty, because officers take their patrol cars home.
"They only use it to and from work, but we do recognize that there are things that occur to and from work and we want to make sure our personnel have the coverage of whatever it is that they're involved in."
Katz doesn't believe the cameras will cause officers to second guess their actions because they're being watched.
"Our officers are on camera all the time anyway. We live in kind of an 'Orwellian' society. It's not uncommon for our officers, for example, to knock on the door of a house or an apartment and someone open it with a cell phone and the camera rolling."
He says it's all about transparency.
"And the cameras will help provide some context of our interactions with the public and I think, overall, it's good for our community, I think it's good for our officers. I don't see aloser in this."
Click Here to watch a video the Boynton Beach Police Dept. produced, about their body camera program. Chief Katz says it shows how access to views from every angle give more evidence what truly happened during a police-involved incident.
Photo: Tetra images RF