Mooresville Police receive body cameras

MOORESVILLE — The Mooresville Metropolitan Police Department has received body cameras and plans to start using them later this year.

Chief Kerry Buckner says there are 24 new cameras — one for each of the 22 officers and two extras.

"Former Chief [Kevin] Julian and I agree that body cameras are essential in policing today," Bucker said in an email to WRTV. "They are a great tool for capturing detail that an officer may forget during an incident, and give us a look at the incident from the officers’ point of view. Administratively, they will save us time when investigating complaints against officers and document the great things they do on a daily basis so we can properly show our appreciation for the officers. Unfortunately the days of taking an officers word about what happened is behind us."

Buckner says the cameras will help with arrest cases and investigations.

In a Facebook post, the department says it will do training and address IT issues before putting them in the field for officers.

Buckner says some officers bought their own body cameras, "so us purchasing a more professional and rugged body cameras was an easy decision."

The camera system is connected to an app called City Protect, which allows citizens to see what officers are doing and look at crime data.

The target date for the camera's launch is currently scheduled for Dec. 21.