EVESHAM, NJ – The Evesham Police Department will now be wearing newer state-of-the-art body cameras will out on patrol and interacting with the public. The department was one of the pioneers in body worn cameras for police officers in New Jersey.
The department issued the following statement regarding the rollout:
The Evesham Police Department received 113 new, state of the art, body worn cameras, from our partners at Axon, to replace our aging camera system. The purchase of these cameras was possible due to funding provided by Evesham Township and a grant our agency received, from the State of New Jersey, in the amount of $203,800. Chief of Police Walt Miller cited, “our agency continues to engage technology, while maintaining high levels of transparency and public trust. We accomplish this on many fronts, however our agency-wide deployment of body worn cameras plays a major role in this area.”
In 2014, the Evesham Police Department was the first department in the State of New Jersey to outfit every police officer with their own body worn camera. The body worn cameras allow police/citizen contacts to be captured in their entirety, as a means to protect the police and the public. The recorded video automatically uploads to a cloud based storage and management system, allowing the video to be easily accessed and reviewed.
The review of the video allows for evidence presentation in court and allows the Evesham Police Department to review our agency’s operations and practices, as a measure of quality control and to ensure that the public receives a level of policing that is both professional and protective. “I’m proud that our township is once again making an investment into the newest technologies for body worn cameras in our police department,” Mayor Jaclyn Veasy said. “Body worn cameras provide the clearest and most accurate account of the contact our officers have with citizens, and this technology just adds to the many reasons our department is able to maintain such an excellent level of trust in our community.”
Body worn cameras have increased law enforcement’s effectiveness and transparency. On June 1, 2021, Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation requiring all police officers in the State of New Jersey to be equipped with a body worn camera, while engaged in patrol activities. New Jersey has collectively joined agencies like ours, in the deployment of body worn cameras in their communities.