FMPD updates body cameras

The Fort Myers Police Department just updated its police body cameras.

This comes just within days of WINK News sitting down with Chief Jason Fields.

He talked to us about keeping up to date with the cameras.

On Wednesday, the department announced on Facebook that it now has the Axon Body 4 and is excited to advance technology-based policing.

“Axon covers our body cameras, our encode cameras, and our Tasers as well, so that technology is constantly evolving, and we’re constantly keeping up with the newest technology to make sure we capture incidents in their entirety. We’re using non-lethal options to defuse and bring situations under a safe control,” said Fields.

“We now have the abilities to bi-directional communicate through them. So not only can we listen, we can also communicate back to the officers,” said Sergeant Edward Cutie from FMPD.

FMPD will now use the Axon body camera 4. 

Another key difference is that this version prevents accidental shut-offs. 

“If you press up against something, or you’re in a struggle, and sometimes the buttons will get pressed in the camera, there is now the requirement to confirm. So if you’re going to power off the camera, you have to hold that button, and then it’s gonna ask you to confirm it with the depression of another button,” Cutie said.

So, how much did this upgrade cost the department? 

FMPD said nothing. 

“It’s included as part of our plan, our contract that we already have with Axon. Included in the price that we already paid for our products and services through Axon, we get upgrades of certain equipment at certain intervals,” Cutie said.

The new body cams are always on but start recording either manually or if another Axon signal device like a taser is activated, it automatically starts recording.  

Sergeant Cutie said the body cams help keep both officers and the public safe.  

“We gather as much information as possible; it just adds to that information gathering that protects officers and the public that they interact with. And it improves our ability to be transparent,” Cutie said.