Body Worn Cameras Purchased

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. – The Mount Pleasant Police Department has purchased 150 Vievu LE3 cameras to equip every police officer with body worn cameras.   150 Vievu LE3 cameras were delivered on Friday June 5, 2015 to the Mount Pleasant Police Department. Each officer will be assigned a body camera as part of their issued duty equipment. “We feel that having a camera on every officer will be beneficial to our department and the community as a whole,” says Inspector Chip Googe. “The Vievu camera will help strengthen cases for prosecution as well as show the officers’ and  suspects’ actions during critical incidents.” Inspector Googe points out that body cameras will not be a fix for every situation but will provide more pieces of information about an incident. Inspector Googe states that they have had a policy for body worn cameras since February of 2014. The Bicycle Patrol and K-9 Units have been wearing body worn cameras since that time.   “The Mount Pleasant Police Department enjoys a strong relationship with our community,” says Chief Carl Ritchie. “Our philosophy has always embraced the community policing concept. This is one more step that strengthens the mutual trust we have with our citizens and offers another layer of transparency to the community we serve.” Chief Ritchie further states that this tool will help show more of the good deeds that officers already do while out on patrol. The recent car fire at Vickery’s where Cpl. Willis is seen pulling a man to   safety is a good example of this. The in car camera captured this incident but had it occurred outside of its view the body worn camera would have provided the details.   “I would like to congratulate the Mount Pleasant Police Department for its proactive stance on the use of body cameras,” say Mayor Linda Page. “We are now the first   municipality in South Carolina able to outfit every police officer with a body camera. Our police department is already heavily integrated within the fabric of the community with a wide array of youth programs and community engagement initiatives. We welcome the body cameras as another tool to promote our core values of professional excellence, trust, honesty and transparency, fairness, respect and accountability.”   Four supervisors will attend a train the trainer class provided by Vievu on June 11th. This training will allow them to teach all other officers in the proper use of the body worn cameras. The current system used to store video from car mounted cameras will also be used to house videos from the body worn cameras. The cameras are expected to roll out on June 26th, 2015.   Chief Ritchie would also like to thank Town Administrator Eric DeMoura, Mayor Linda Page and all of Town Council for funding all of the body cameras. Their support of this program is immeasurable.