Rush Twp. chief secures grant to purchase body cameras for department

Apr. 13—HOMETOWN — Rush Twp. Police Chief Kenneth Zipovsky secured a body camera to a mount on his chest and hit a large button to start recording.

The device beeped twice to signal its activation, and red lights flashed as it recorded video and audio.

"I can't say enough good things about this because any tool we have that can help keep people safe, I'm 100% for it," he said.

The department recently purchased eight body cameras — enough for each of its officers. They'll be put into service after police training in the very near future.

To get the cameras — the first ever for the department — Zipovsky successfully applied for a $12,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Commission of Crime and Delinquency.

"We are trying to do more with less, that's the easiest way to put it," Zipovsky said. "Like many departments, we are stuck with the funding that's available. Ideally we'd like to have a lot more and be able to do more, but we don't."

From the police station, Zipovsky demonstrated how the cameras work. He turned his on and it paired with his work-issued smartphone.

He filmed for about a minute, then displayed the resulting video. A wide angle shot was clear and in color. Audio was crisp.

"They can review video if they need it at the scene. Let's say someone runs and they think, 'Oh, did that guy have on a red hat or a blue hat?' They can review that video from their phones — they don't have to come back to the station or anything," he said.

And if there's an emergency situation, an officer who is on the perimeter of a scene can watch the engaged officer's footage.

"The officer can look at this and see inside of what the officer sees," Zipovsky explained. "It's a very useful tool."

Body cameras are ready to record all the time so they capture the seconds before the cameras are actually activated.

When an officer completes a shift, he returns his body camera to a charging station. The station boosts batteries while it downloads and stores data.

The cameras are extremely secure. Officers can't edit or delete footage, and if the cameras are stolen, individuals cannot access them.

Minor incidents caught on film — those that do not result in charges or citations — can be deleted after 60 days. Others can be saved indefinitely.

"Sometimes people look at this as maybe they're worried about catching a police officer doing something wrong, but I'm more worried about catching them doing something right," Zipovsky said. "There are many times people make a complaint and it didn't happen, or somebody ultra-exaggerated something. It's just another step of showing our officers are professional and that they're accountable."

Zipovsky spent time researching body camera options and decided to purchase from Axon. The company is best known for its Taser products, the nonlethal devices that can incapacitate individuals.

"Body cams are just like a car, you can buy yourself a Mercedes Benz or you can buy yourself a $300 car that might make it down the block," he said.

Zipkovsky said $6,000 in grants he secured from Walmart stores in Hometown and St. Clair will be used toward data storage for the cameras.

He also applied for a grant from Schuylkill County which was used to purchase a sanitizing device used to clean the station and police cars.

He also scored a grant to purchase two electronic ticketing devices. With them, officers simply scan the bar codes on driver's licenses and vehicle registrations. Tickets and citations are then printed on the spot.

And in March, community members turned over $9,000 to the department for safety equipment. Zipovsky intends to use part of the donation to replace an aging laptop that pairs with a license plate reader inside one of the patrol cars.

"We're trying to do everything we can and give the officers the tools they need to be productive, successful and safe without burdening the taxpayers," he said. "I'm very thankful that we have a great community that has mutual respect between the police department and the community that we serve. Most of the police departments in Northeast Pennsylvania have that relationship and that's a fantastic thing."

Contact the writer: jwhalen@standardspeaker.com; 570-501-3592.