Body cameras on the Central Coast: Gilroy Police are veterans

This week, the Salinas Police Department moved a step closer to equipping its officers with body cameras. Other Central Coast cities like Greenfield are also taking the same step.

It’s an effort to protect officers and the public. But there’s one local police department that’s been using body cams for more than four years. Welcome to Gilroy.

“I think all police officers should wear a camera,” said Gilroy Officer Mark Tarasco.

With 41 body cameras available, almost all the Gilroy Police officers participate.

“I’d say 99 percent of the people are wearing it here,” Tarasco said, including himself.

Although he’s fairly new to the technology, Gilroy PD has used body cams well ahead of everyone else on the Central Coast.

“When we found out that this was the wave of the future, we were proactive in the sense that we wanted to be up to par with industry standards as far as engaging the community,” said Gilroy Sgt. Pedro Espinoza.

News Channel 5 went on the road with Tarasco and according to their policy, he turns the camera on when he thinks a situation might lead to an arrest.

While we were on patrol, someone reported some people smoking weed. After further investigation, Tarasco learned it was just cigarettes.

We asked one of those people how it felt being recorded by police.

“I say you gotta watch what you are doing around cops in general,” said Daniel Walmsley. “Better to be safe than sorry.”

Has it made the officers’ jobs easier?

It’s definitely made it easier,” Tarasco said. “Especially when a complaint comes in and somebody says you did something you didn’t do and you know you have the video to back yourself up, it’s great.”

Sgt. Espinoza said the cameras themselves cost $750 each and an additional $7,000 a year to store the footage. But Espinoza said the money and time it saves is priceless.

“It avoids long, drawn-out court appearances, as well as complaints against our officers,” Espinoza said.

Tarasco added, while he supports body cams, he said wearing one has changed his behavior as a cop.

“If you’re being recorded all day long, you are definitely going to say things differently or maybe act differently,” Tarasco said, “which I am not saying is a bad thing right.”

Gilroy Police said the body cams have improved their own transparency, but they’ve never really had a trust issue with the community.

One by one, police departments on the Central Coast are adding body cameras but Gilroy was the pioneer. After four years, they said they have no regrets.

“I think if you are doing the right thing, it’s only there to support you,” Tarasco said.

“It’s a way for police departments to be transparent to build trust with our community. In reality, we have nothing to hide about what we do,” Espinoza said.

Gilroy Police said everyone should be held accountable for their mistakes, even police.