Salinas Police deploy body cameras, policy revealed

Salinas police are putting their body cams to use. But it will still be a while until the entire department is using them. NewsChannel 5 also has a copy of the body camera manual that officers will have to follow when they use the cameras.

Salinas police officers are still in the learning stages with the body cameras. NewsChannel 5 found that out firsthand Wednesday during a burglary call, when one of the officers chasing the suspects, said his body camera wasn’t the first thing he thought about.

“Double tap on the center to turn it on and then press and hold to turn it off,” Officer Ian Parsons said.

It’s that simple, when you have time to think about it.

“I saw two of the suspects running, I gave chase and was able to take one into custody,” Parsons said.

But when there are four suspects scattering in different directions after they allegedly stole guns from a home, Parsons admitted he wasn’t thinking about his body camera.

“It’s still not a natural reaction for me to turn it on especially under the stress of chasing somebody,” Parsons said.

Parsons has been testing out his body cam for 7 months and will be one of the officers training his colleagues

“Every officer is going to run through their officer safety checklist first. So it’s going to take a lot of repetition to make that a part of your everyday checklist,” Parsons said.

Newly released guidelines officers need to follow said officers should record enforcement related contacts like traffic stops, arrests, and crimes in progress. Domestic violence statements are on there because police said victims often recant statements the following day.

In East Salinas, Parsons only started recording after the suspect was detained, not during the chase.

‘I’m still not there yet. But it shouldn’t be too much of a learning curve for everybody,” Parsons.

But what he does have is a recorded interview with the suspect that he can use for his report. With an app, Parsons is able to pull up an interaction right away. Even with thirteen years on the job, Parsons said he’s always learning, even learning what he doesn’t like about his second pair of eyes.

“Even with these cameras you are still not gonna see what I see,” Parsons said.

Sometimes where the camera is positioned on the officer means it doesn’t always capture the full picture of what the officer sees. That’s where the audio comes in. Parsons said in some cases it can be more beneficial than the video.

Salinas Police Body Camera Policy