Atascadero Police get body cameras
By City Manager Rachelle Rickard
Atascadero City Manager Rachelle Rickard.
–For those old enough to recall, the headlines in the late 60’s and early 70’s mirrored those of today, with police officers across the country becoming the targets of a high degree of violence in many forms. Again today, we see headlines documenting mass shootings of police and we tend to think that things have never been this bad. While these incidents are horrendously difficult to understand, our own community has shown a tremendous outpouring of support for the members of the Atascadero Police Department. Residents have placed signs along the wall of the APD parking lot, expressing their appreciation for the job they do. People have approached our police chief out in the community, thanking him for the service of our officers. Tokens of affection have been left at the police department, demonstrating the strong support of the community.
The Atascadero Police Department describes their purpose in two simple words, “Do Good.” While this may seem like a simple thought, the members of the APD have a deep understanding that their true purpose is to work toward the greater good of our society, even to the detriment of self. They also understand that a great relationship with the members of our community must be cultivated and they value the partnerships that have developed with those they serve. This commitment to service is what makes our police department a welcome participant in making Atascadero a great place to live and work.
From time to time, we do receive complaints about the performance of our officers. The City of Atascadero and the APD take these complaints seriously and make every effort to ensure that we follow up these complaints in a professional manner. This job has been much easier with the advent of body worn video cameras. As you go through town, you may now notice that our officers are wearing digital cameras, which have become an extremely valuable investigatory tool. APD is entering this technology field very early on, recognizing the important value it provides.
Perhaps the biggest advantage to having officers wear cameras has been the ability to affectively deal with complaints. One of the first things we now do when receiving a complaint is to check the video captured by the body camera during an incident. In those instances when an officer’s performance was not up to the high standards we expect, we are able to use the video as a training tool to demonstrate alternatives in how to best handle a situation. We’re very happy that true instances of poor performance are extremely rare. Time and again, video taken during an incident clearly shows that our officers are doing exceptional work.
I would like to thank everyone in our community for making this a great place to live and work. While other neighboring communities are seeing large jumps in their crime rates, the City of Atascadero has remained a wonderfully safe place.
As always, if you have any questions about this or any other topic related to the city, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].
