CATCHING CRIME ON TAPE.

Byline: Rebecca Nolan The Register-Guard

The camera never lies - and soon it will record most interactions between Eugene police and the public.

The department plans to install digital video cameras in its patrol cars starting next year, to create a visual record of what really happens on the streets.

Agencies across the country are paying for emerging technology that can decrease court time, speed up internal affairs investigations and provide fodder for officer training.

Camera-equipped police departments have seen dramatic drops in citizen complaints - including allegations of racial profiling - and officers spend less time in court testifying because conclusive video evidence often leads to guilty pleas.

Officers who balk at the notion of being watched as they go about their work quickly learn that the camera can be their best friend when someone files a false allegation. And the public benefits when officers know that their performance is being monitored, police agencies say.

"There has been an unreasonable fear among officers that Big Brother is watching, when Big Brother is on your side," said Eugene police officer Nate Pieske, who currently uses a digital video system in his cruiser.

"Big Brother is going to help you."

Early trials weren't successful

This isn't Eugene's first flirtation with video. During the past 15 years, the city has had an on-again, off-again relationship with in-car cameras.

Its first experiments with VHS-based technology never really got off the ground. The equipment was shoddy, policies governing its use were never finalized and officers were never fully trained in how to use the clunky units. The lack of training meant that the cameras often went unused and officers regarded them with suspicion. A pattern of damage led some to wonder whether cops were intentionally disabling the units.

"That first system was a colossal waste of money," police union President Willy Edewaard said. "Officers weren't sabotaging the equipment - the equipment was just crummy."

Department officials have taken the blame for the training failures and have been looking into alternative systems for the past several years.

The effort gained new momentum in the wake of recent sex scandals involving two officers now serving prison time. In recent weeks, the department has seen demonstrations from four digital vendors and is working with members of the Eugene Police Commission to draw up a policy to govern camera use.

Officers are willing to give a new, better system a try, Edewaard said.

"They're a great tool," he said. "The evidentiary value is incredible in criminal and traffic cases."

The technology isn't cheap.

Police estimate that it costs up to $7,500 to equip each patrol car, depending on the system. The department still has to figure out how to pay for the system and the part-time employee needed to manage the data and maintain the equipment.

Yakima police like system

The city of Yakima, Wash., paid IBM $463,000 to install in-car digital video in 36 patrol cars last year, after a number of racial bias complaints against the police department.

The department was among the first in the country to use the technology, and Capt. Jeff Schneider said officers who initially resisted have come to rely on the cameras.

"Now the officers get uncomfortable when they can't use their cameras, when they have to drive a car that has a system malfunction or whatever," Schneider said. "The video camera has saved them from false allegations time after time after time."

An officer was recently cleared of a woman's allegation that he ran a red light and caused a wreck that injured the woman and the officer. The tape clearly showed that the officer had the green light, Schneider said.

In cases where video backs up a citizen complaint, the recording eliminates the he-said, she-said aspect of most internal affairs investigations and allows supervisors to quickly address the problem, he said.

A feature that allows officers to continue audio recording while out of camera range has proven handy in domestic violence cases when victims often recant their initial allegations of assault, he said. The victim's resolve might weaken over time, but prosecutors can still use statements recorded at the scene.

And the cameras helped solve a murder when a unit recorded a man fleeing from a neighborhood where police learned a woman had been murdered. An officer remembered seeing the fleeing figure and was able to go backward through the digital recording and identify him, Schneider said.

The same "pre-event" recording has helped defend officers against allegations of racial bias, Schneider said, because the footage can be used to prove that an officer had a reason other than race to stop a person.

The cities of Oakland and Pittsburgh and the state of New Jersey have all reported decreases in citizen complaints since installing in-car systems.

Retrieval of data easy

In Yakima, officers start their shifts by checking out a portable hard drive and plugging it into a computer in the front seat of the patrol car. A camera is mounted at the windshield and officers wear a small microphone on their uniforms that they can control with a button on their utility belts.

The system automatically begins recording whenever the overhead lights are activated, and officers also can manually start recording from inside the car.

With the flip of a toggle switch, officers can activate an infrared camera aimed at the rear seat. Yakima department policy requires recording in some circumstances and leaves it up to officers in other cases.

Officers end their shifts by uploading the data into a server, which is stored for four or more years. Retrieving the data is simple, Schneider said, and can be done in minutes from a desktop computer. In the past, a clerk would have to fast-forward and rewind through hours of videotape to find the portion needed in a case or investigation, he said.

Eugene officer Pieske has been testing a Kustom Signals digital system in his patrol car for the past year and a half. He said people are a lot nicer once he informs them - as required by state law - that their interaction is being recorded. He has written hundreds of tickets and rarely has to go to court to defend them.

He said the attitude among his fellow officers is changing, and cops who used to bemoan in-car cameras are asking when they can get one in their car.

"I sleep well at night knowing I'm going to keep my truck and my house because everything I do is on videotape," Pieske said. "I feel naked without my digital recording system."

CAPTION(S):

Eugene police officer Nate Pieske calls the new audio-video system installed in his police car `my silent partner' and says he likes the system. A video monitor is mounted in the interior of a police car. The data is recorded on a hard drive in the trunk. "There has been an unreasonable fear among officers that Big Brother is watching, when Big Brother is on your side." NATE PIESKE EUGENE POLICE OFFICER