The Wilkinsburg Police Department is buying new body cameras — nearly two for every officer currently on the force — with the support of more than half a million dollars of federal funding, local and federal officials announced Monday.
Ophelia Coleman, the Wilkinsburg police chief, said the new cameras include several automatic functions that the department’s current cameras don’t have.
For example, she said, when an officer pulls out a Taser, the body camera will automatically turn on. When an officer is in a dangerous situation they will be able to alert and live stream their superiors back at the station. And if one officer turns on their body camera in some situations it will automatically turn on all of the other police cameras in the area.
Coleman said these new cameras will help settle disputes arising from confrontations between civilians and police. “One person sees it from their perspective. Another person sees it from their perspective,” she said. “That body camera is not going to lie.”
The department received funding for body cameras for the first time in 2021, according to KDKA. In 2019, a Wilkinsburg police officer shot and killed Romir Talley, a 24-year-old. The officer claimed that Talley fired first, while Talley’s family said it was a case of mistaken identity. Talley’s family criticized the department for not investing in body cameras at the time, a concern echoed by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala.
“That's why we're here today, to give Wilkinsburg the tools they need to keep folks safe,” said U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio at a Monday press conference announcing the award. He said the grant would help “to make sure they have what they need not just to keep folks safe, but to build trust between the people who are being protected and the folks who are out there putting themselves on the line to protect them.”
The grant will cover funds for 24 “Axon Body 4” cameras — one camera for every officer position in the borough’s public safety budget, Coleman said.
Right now, however, Coleman said the department only has 13 officers.
“All over the nation they're having problems” with police recruitment, said Coleman. “Hiring officers is more difficult now.”'
Coleman said the department’s current body cameras were still working properly. The new ones, she said, “just have more features. Just like anything else, technology is advancing.”
The body camera funding is one of 15 projects worth more than $15 million that Deluzio supported in Western Pennsylvania. Sen. John Fetterman also supported the purchase of the cameras and appeared alongside Deluzio Monday.
“More resources, that turns into a more safe community, that's a fact,” said Fetterman, who added that as the former mayor of Braddock, he knew how important such resources are. “We were constantly short of labor, funds and kinds of tools and everything.”
Deluzio also supported a $700,000 grant to Scott Township police to purchase a mobile command center, and $50,000 for Harmar to purchase a police cruiser — federal spending he was touting during National Police Week.
Wilkinsburg police said that once they receive the funding, it would take about two months before the cameras are operational. Coleman said that while the cameras do help increase support from the community, there has also been increasing support for body cameras in the police ranks as well.
“The truth is the truth. The truth stands on its own,” she said. “It doesn't need a crutch.”
