CHEVY CHASE, Md. 鈥斅燜ollowing the full rollout of body-worn cameras by Montgomery County police, officials say they are seeing plenty of benefits and are still doing some learning.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been an adjustment, certainly for old cops like me,鈥� Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger told 草莓传媒. He almost forgot about the camera when he made a traffic stop this past weekend.
鈥淚 got out of the car and I had already started talking to the man and then remembered 鈥極h, I鈥檝e got to turn this on.鈥欌��
But since the department began testing the cameras last year, Manger said it has been a positive experience.
鈥淭he cameras are overall very much a net positive for the community and for police,鈥� Manger said. The pilot program was expanded over the summer to now include every officer in the county.
鈥淢y cops have learned very quickly that it can be their best friend when they deal with a volatile situation. People are able to see what we are dealing with, some of the challenges we are dealing with. They are saying that my cops are displaying incredible patience, incredible tolerance for people that are not very nice to them.鈥�
Although there has been a recent rekindling of violence against police across the country, interacting with unkind people is not anything new for officers.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the nature of this job,鈥� the police chief said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been a cop for 40 years. It鈥檚 been like that for 40 years.鈥�
