Kimberling City Mo. Police Department debuts new body cameras

KIMBERLING CITY, Mo. (KY3) - The Kimberling City Police Department has new body cameras. The department debuted them earlier this summer.

This is the first time Kimberling City Police have had body cameras. In the past, the department only had dash cams. Officers say these aren’t your typical devices either.

“The awesome part is we can receive phone calls and GPS from an app,” said Officer Alexis Hobbs. ”As well as directly to a call location that comes through from dispatch. On top of recording at the same time.”

Kimberling City Police Chief Todd Lemoine says the body camera footage is filmed through an app on their new department cell phones. Officers tested numerous devices and found the flip phone the easiest because of its size and features. The department says traditional body camera devices must be taken back to the office, and the footage is uploaded to a cloud or another computer.

”This one, as soon as you’re done recording it, whatever information you activated it for, it’ll automatically upload to the cloud,” said Chief Lemoine. “Then I can see it live at my desk side.”

Chief Lemoine says this technology is also beneficial for officer safety purposes.

”I can click no matter where I am in the city or the country and see a live feed of whatever the officer is recording at that particular time,” Chief Lemoine said. “Whether it’s a traffic stop or domestic dispute.”

Officer Alexis Hobbs says it’s comforting to know if there’s an emergency and officers can’t get information back to central dispatch, authorities can log in and see their location.

”Which makes us feel safe if there is an instance where we need help,” said Chief Lemoine. We know people can get to us.”

Body cams also aid accountability and transparency for the department and the community.

”You can see both sides of the story,” Lemoine said. “As we engage with the public, that’s extremely important.”

The phones and software were funded through the department’s equipment safety budget.

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