Police at IU and IUPUI to wear body cameras

Indiana University police officers in Indianapolis and Bloomington will soon be wearing small cameras as part of the department’s decision to adopt the technology by year’s end.

As the call for transparency within police departments across the country grows louder, “the use of body-worn cameras is becoming an expected practice” by law enforcement, a release from IU Public Safety officials said Wednesday.

“I have directed the use of body-worn cameras by IU police officers as a standard operating procedure,” John Applegate, executive vice president for university academic affairs, said in a statement. “It is a powerful way to improve safety and build trust between police and the communities they serve.”

IU joins several other departments across the state that have equipped their officers with the cameras. Most recently, the Lawrence Police Department announced it was rolling out a body-worn camera program for its patrol officers in August.

Lawrence police getting body cams

But some Indiana departments are shying away from the technology in the wake of a new Indiana law requiring local departments to hold video for 190 days, or enough time for a citizen to file a tort claim.

At least two police departments in Southern Indiana have suspended their body camera programs because they say they can't afford to pay for the amount of digital storage the new law requires.

IUPD is still in the process of selecting a vendor, according to the release, so it’s unclear how efficient the cameras, hardware and software will be at saving videos for the amount of time the law requires.

"We will begin (the program) at IU Bloomington and IUPUI, which have the largest campus populations, and bring in the regional campuses over time,” Applegate said in the statement.

Before implementing the cameras, the release said, police on both campuses will receive training on the use of the equipment, as well as on guidelines developed by the university’s public safety and policy officials.

IU officials did not say how much they expected to spend on the program.

Call IndyStar reporter Michael Anthony Adams at (317) 444-6123. Follow him on Twitter: @michaeladams317.