GCPD introduces new officer cameras

    GRUNDY CENTER — Police officers nationwide have used in-car camera to record events and sounds of their everyday business. Technology recently introduced to the Grundy Center Police Department will allow them to take those recordings one step further.
    The Police Department recently purchased a set of officer-worn cameras to replace a pair of outdated cameras that have been mounted in squad cars for years.
    Chief Brock Gilbert said the new cameras, which went into service within the past month, not only provide more safety for the officers, but they were also substantially less expensive than replacing the car-mounted cameras which still used VHS technology.
    “To update to the digital or DVD would have been about $5,000 (per car) for an in-car camera, whereas the body cameras for five of them was about $6,300,” he said.
    Officer Dustin Blackburn said it did not take long to get used to wearing the device, which is clipped to the head with a plastic headband that will fit under an officer’s cap.
    “I love them,” Blackburn said. “I got used to it in like a day. It’s just how you want to situate it on your head and once you get that figured out it’s fine.”
 

For more of this story, see the Dec. 5 Grundy Register.