STARKVILLE — When Sgt. Brandon Lovelady pulls his gun from its holster, an alert immediately sounds in the earpiece of every Starkville police officer on duty and his body camera begins recording. Inside the Starkville Police Department’s analyst room, staff can instantly pinpoint his location on a city map and watch the situation unfold in real time.
Though only a demonstration, the scenario highlighted how the department uses its BodyWorn camera system, which uses artificial intelligence to create situational awareness, improving officer safety, supporting investigations and providing real-time information during critical incidents.
“One of the major tenants that we thoroughly agree with 21st century policing is embracing technology,” SPD Chief Mark Ballard told The Dispatch on Thursday. “You have to understand it, you have to understand how it works in the lives of the average citizen and you have to understand how these tools can make your job easier (and) more effective. And that’s what these camera systems do.”
The department first deployed the camera system in 2021 and renewed its five-year contract with supplier Select Utility Inc. in January for a total of 78 body and 50 patrol car cameras.
Unlike older cameras that officers must manually activate, these begin recording automatically during pursuits, when an officer’s firearm is unholstered, when the system detects an officer may be down or when police lights are activated in the car.
The cameras continuously capture video in a pre-event mode and save footage once a triggering event occurs. Recorded video is uploaded to cloud storage within seconds, allowing supervisors and analysts to access footage quickly.
In one case last year, camera footage helped investigators identify and locate suspects following a shooting. Ballard said footage from one officer’s body camera captured details of a suspect vehicle that ultimately led investigators to the alleged shooter.
“That video broke open, and … sometimes all you need is that one step,” Ballard said. “That was the one step that provided more and more additional information (and) led us to successful conclusion and apprehension of the suspects that were involved in that shooting.”
The system also gives analysts the ability to monitor incidents as they happen. During pursuits or calls involving multiple officers, analysts can watch live camera feeds, track officers’ locations and relay information to officers in the field.
In one such instance, analysts tuning into a patrol vehicle camera spotted a handcuffed suspect preparing to flee while officers searched the suspect’s nearby vehicle. Analysts alerted officers before the suspect could escape.
“The more eyes and ears you have watching for officers’ safety, the better it is,” Ballard said. “You want safety, you want no drama, you want to be able to get them into the system, but anytime anybody escapes, it puts everyone around that situation at risk.”
Beyond active incidents, Ballard said the cameras have also become a valuable training tool, allowing officers to review their actions and identify mistakes – such as leaving a suspect unattended in a patrol car.
“A really good athlete goes back, watches the video of their own actions, what they did right (and) what they did wrong in hopes of improving,” Ballard said. “That is very much the culture that we like to implant here. The video is there, go back and watch. What did you do right? What did you do wrong? How can you improve?”
The cameras’ GPS capabilities also allow investigators to reconstruct officers’ movements during incidents, helping clarify events during investigations and court proceedings.
“The ability to go back and replicate and review the exact pattern where our officers were standing and running is amazing when you’re trying to put together the events as to what actually happened and where the events took place, which is very much needed … especially when you’re talking about prosecuting someone at a higher level crime,” Ballard said.
While the cameras themselves don’t prevent crime, Ballard said the technology represents a major step forward in modernizing and improving police departments everywhere.
“It’s not the matter of information, it’s the matter of management of information,” he said. “These systems provide so much more than what we used to have and … you see firsthand how these safety features help improve this industry dramatically.”
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