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Dallas ISD police officers to wear body cameras, have recording systems in squad cars
Police officers on Dallas ISD campuses will soon be armed with video and audio recording systems in squad cars, and they will wear body cameras.
DALLAS - Police officers on Dallas ISD campuses will soon be armed with video and audio recording systems in squad cars, and they will wear body cameras.
Most districts have officers who use body cameras either because they are school resource officers from local departments, or the school district has outfitted its own department.
That’s what Dallas ISD is doing now
"Pictures are worth a thousand words," Dallas ISD Police Chief John Lawton said. "In this case, videos are worth a thousand words."
Audio and video recording systems on officers’ uniforms and in squad cars has helped law enforcement in untold ways.
The Dallas ISD board approved a five-year, $1.6 million contract Thursday night for its police department to have in-car recording systems.
And officers will have a system called Bodyworn on their uniforms, which is also used by Arlington police.
"It will only consist of our sworn officers at this time," Lawton said.
Dallas ISD secures middle and high school campuses with 131 sworn police officers, who will now have the camera systems.
Security officers, which there are around 50 of in the district, won't wear the cameras.
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There are currently cameras outside and inside Dallas schools, but not in squad cars or on officers, until now.
"This will allow us to be more transparent as an organization for the purpose of collecting evidence," Lawton added. "Evidentiary purposes, it will help us there."
"Between August 1st of this year and October 1st of this year, gun related incidents on campuses across the country are standing at 97, where, during the same period in 2019, they were standing at 29," school security consultant Craig Miller said.
Miller said the post-pandemic increase of instances with guns on school campuses mirrors upticks across all of society.
The former deputy police chief and Dallas ISD police chief said a student will often tell another student what they are planning to do.
"If that person can come forward and relay that information to an officer, and if that officer has a body worn camera and they can capture that conversation between those two students and have accurate information about what another student may be going to do, that will absolutely be beneficial to everyone," Miller said.
"One good thing about it, it helps when we get out in our community," Lawton said. "It keeps our citizens honest, it keeps our police honest, and so, I think there's a good balance there."
The district’s current cameras in hallways and outside don't have audio.
The in-car and body cameras will gradually roll out after training.
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