Chief McCubbin demonstrates officer body cameras to safety committee

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Thursday, March 12, 2015, 10 p.m. — If Bardstown Police Chief Rick McCubbin has his way, all Bardstown Police officers will be equipped with body cameras in the near future.

Bardstown Police Chief Rick McCubbin demonstrates a body cam he hopes to equip his officers with sometime this year. The camera will attach securely to an officer’s uniform.

McCubbin demonstrated one of the body cameras Thursday at the Bardstown City Council’s safety committee meeting.

The camera — smaller than a pack of cigarettes — records 12 to 14 hours of audio and video. The cameras have a variety of mounts that allow it to be clipped to an officer’s uniform. McCubbin said the camera mounts have been tested by his officers and can hold the units securely.

The cameras also are equipped with infra-red emitters that allow recording in total darkness. Officers can also use the camera to take still photos while they are being worn.

McCubbin said he plans to have a strict policy requiring officers have the cameras recording during all officer interactions with the public. “I want to do this right when we do it,” he said.

McCubbin said the video captured by the camera is time-stamped and will be downloaded from the each officer’s camera at the end of each shift. Officers can review the video, but they will not have the ability to edit or delete the video.

Storing and archiving the video won’t be as expensive as he once believed, McCubbin told the committee. The video will be downloaded onto a server and then eventually moved to storage media for archival purposes. The cameras will be helpful when investigating complaints about an officers’ conduct, he said.

The Bardstown City Council’s safety committee met Thursday evening at Bardstown City Hall.

Councilman Francis Lydian supports equipping police with body cameras, and suggested the council and the mayor contribute their contingency funds to help purchase equipment.

The funds for purchase of the equipment will need approval by the full city council as part of the police department’s 2015-16 budget.

STOP STICKS. McCubbin told the committee that recent high-speed police pursuits in the city limits have increased his interest in equipping police cruisers with stop sticks — triangular-shaped sticks lined with sharpened prongs designed to deflate vehicle tires.

One recent high-speed pursuit had police chasing a suspect from East Stephen Foster Avenue to the Court Square, and then north on North Third Street out of the city limits. McCubbin said one of the officers involved in the pursuit said if he had stop sticks available, the pursuit would have been stopped before it started.

McCubbin said he would add a request for the stop sticks in his 2015-16 department budget.

BIKE PATROL. Safety committee chairman, councilman Bill Buckman — a retired Bardstown Police officer — said he would like to see the city police department return to the community oriented policing concept.

Years ago, the city police department had a bike patrol during warm weather months. Both Buckman and former city police officer Mayor John Royalty were former members of the bike patrol.

Buckman said the bike patrol put officers in close contact with residents, business owners and tourists, and was very popular.

McCubbin agreed there was value in the idea, and the department still owns the bicycles once used by the bike patrol officers. The bikes were recently used by plain clothes officers to catch thieves who were stealing from parked cars, he said.

The department is going to hire a new officer soon, and that new officer could be assigned to a bike patrol beat, he said.

CITIZEN HIRING BOARD UPDATE. Royalty said that he was moving forward with the hiring board that will provide citizen input in the process of hiring police officers.

McCubbin said he envisioned the citizen board will review applicants and forward their recommendations to the police chief and then finally the mayor.

Royalty said he has some legal questions that he are being address by the Kentucky League of Cities, but stated he plans to move forward with the hiring board.

The police chief and fire chief position are both selected and hired by the mayor with the approval of the city council.

NEXT UP. The safety committee’s next meeting is June 11, 2015, in the mayor’s conference room at Bardstown City Hall.

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