It’s been about a year since the Maui Police Department’s last field test of body cameras, and the department is now conducting another field test of officer body cameras. It began on July 8 and will run for a month.
“Beginning Friday, July 8, 2016, the Plans, Training, Research & Development Section of the Maui Police Department will conduct a one month feasibility study on the use of the body-worn camera,” stated a July 8 Maui PD news release. “The body-worn camera will be field tested by officers in the various Patrol Districts. The results of the study will assist the Maui Police Department in making informed decisions about the implementation of this technology.”
While last year’s study used Axon cameras (click here for our story on the “results” of that test, such as they were), the MPD will deploy body-worn cameras by VIEVU this time around. “Use of this camera is not indicative of any future use or decision to solely utilize this camera,” states the news release. The department will also field-test other types of in the coming months.
As the MPD tests various body cameras, the powerful State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO) has sparred with Kauai County over that department’s deployment of body cameras. In fact, SHOPO filed a complaint with the Hawaii Sate Labor Relations Board on Jan. 11, 2016 against the Kauai PD over their use of the cameras, though the board eventually ruled in the Kauai PD’s favor, according to this KHON story.
Photo of VIEVU camera courtesy Maui Police Department
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