COLUMBUS, Ohio — Transparency has been at the top of the Columbus Police Department’s list for a few years. 

What You Need To Know

  • CPD partnered with Axon for the upgraded body camera technology 

  • The new cameras will include in video recall, video look back, and higher quality video and quality 

  • The new technology is fewer than $19 million, which will be spread over the next five years 

  • More than 2,100 cameras will be deployed with this investment 

In 2020, Andre Hill was shot and killed by former Columbus Police officer Adam Coy. Body-worn cameras were integral in the investigation and Coy did not turn on his body camera until after the shooting.

The cameras only provided 60 seconds of look back footage without audio. Two years later, the Columbus Police Department is getting an upgrade to the camera system, with activation being a critical factor.

“Everybody from the patrol officers to the chief will have a body-worn camera,” said Robert Layton, an officer with CPD.

The body cameras will be activated automatically when a cruiser’s lights/sirens are activated, a rifle/shotgun rack are released, a cruiser accelerates to a high rate of speed or when a cruiser is involved in a collision. They will also have a look back feature that shows two minutes prior to activation and video recall.

The footage will stay in the evidence archive for up to two years. As of last Monday, 1,152 body cameras have already been deployed. They were recently used in an incident that involved two officers getting shot at by civilians. CPD said this updated technology is beneficial for both officers and citizens.

“When an officer is dispatched to any type of service, at the time of the service, the current policy is to activate the camera upon dispatch,” said Layton. 

While policy on how to use and implement the cameras has been revised, Robert Clark, the director of Public Safety, said they are still working on what consequences will look like if policy is broken.

“This technology is much more advanced than the technology that we had previously so we’re in the process now of building that policy that supports the technology that we have on board now,” said Clark. 

Along with the new body-worn cameras, the department will also receive 450 new in-car cameras with license plate readers, 16 interview room systems and unlimited video and audio storage. Officer Layton said that the license plate readers have been very helpful with the uptick in Kias and Hyuandais being stolen. 

He said with this technology, all officers have to do is drive through an apartment complex or mall parking lot to find stolen vehicles rather than typing in each plate manually. The total cost will be $18,937,672.20 over five years and will come from the city of Columbus’ Operating Budget.

Chenelle Jones on the Civilian Police Review Board said that this purchase is a step in the right direction.

“This next generation of body-worn and cruiser cameras will allow Columbus Police Officers the ability to further promote public safety within our community,” said Jones. “This new technology will also help solve crimes, and promote better transparency for police/citizen encounters that may be called into question.”

Clark said these upgrades are answering the call to action made by the people of Columbus.

“We can begin building back that trust and transparency that has been challenging over the last couple of years,” said Clark. “I'm excited about this investment because it demonstrates not just that we want to spend money but where we’re spending our money and how we are building back that trust and transparency.”

Deployment of all new equipment is set to be complete by March 31, 2023.