Hawkeye football games, basketball games, concerts, orientation events, and guest speakers—like President Barack Obama, who has visited the campus twice this year—are among the events where the new camera equipment is valuable.
Benefits include providing unbiased courtroom evidence in criminal cases, which saves officers from potentially having to testify at length on the witness stand.
The cameras also provide footage for or against officers involved in citizen complaints. And, in some cases, officers have reported citizens improving their behavior once they realize they’re being recorded.
“When people know the camera is on, we have a different kind of behavior,” Visin said.
Officers don’t have to disclose the cameras to citizens unless they ask, according to the department’s policy.
Poole said he views the equipment as a safeguard for the police and the public.
“I have more confidence going into the field now,” Poole said. “If I say this had occurred, I have something to back me up.”
Poole said he’s received numerous inquiries from other agencies, including the Iowa City Police Department, wanting to know what equipment the UI is using and how the officers like it.
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