The Hamburg Township Police Department will soon have body cameras for every officer on road patrol.

The department is adding six more to the two received through the help of a grant a year and a half ago. Hamburg Police Chief Rick Duffany said they’ve found them very valuable and that he wanted to expand the number on hand for full coverage of patrolling officers. He called them an objective eye, stating that it’s not the officer’s version of what happened or the citizen’s version of what happened, but simply the version that happened. The two the department currently has already cleared a couple of complaints in favor of the officer, finding that they didn’t do anything improper. The chief also recognized the cameras as a good tool for citizens because of the transparency and accountability it holds the police department to.

Duffany said the new batch of cameras on the way feature the most current technology. The pair they currently use require the officer to manually turn on along with the in-car video system. The new ones will sync up to the department’s car camera systems and automatically turn on when the vehicle’s emergency equipment is activated.

The six cameras and accompanying software cost around $5,000, but a grant will reimburse the department 75% of that. The equipment was originally scheduled to arrive on December 15th, but was delayed. Deputy Chief Dariusz Nisenbaum said at Wednesday’s Public Safety Committee meeting that he expects them to be in department’s hands this month. (MK)