Harper College’s police force will be mandated to wear body cameras at all times this coming February 2024, per the requirements of the Illinois SAFE-T Act of 2021.
The Illinois SAFE-T Act requires body cameras to be implemented by all Illinois Law Enforcement agencies by no later than January 2025. The main goal for this legislation was to increase transparency and accountability between citizens and law enforcement.
Training will begin on Jan. 1, and a select number of Harper’s officers will be wearing body cameras as a trial run. By Feb. 1, they will officially be implemented and required to be worn by every sworn officer here at Harper.
According to Harper Chief of Police John Lawson, the BWCs (body-worn cameras) are always on. While they are not always actively recording, they have the capability to recall footage from 30 seconds before the actual record button was hit; this function is known as buffering.
Chief Lawson explained that when an officer starts duty, the BWC should not turn off until the officer is officially off duty.
“There’s penalties for that,” he said. “I can get charged with a felony for official misconduct if I shut [the BWC] off in the middle of my duty because I’m hiding something.”
Officers are mandated to hit the record button immediately after receiving a police service call. All of the footage is saved into the “evidence cloud” and held for 90 days.
Chief Lawson expressed his thoughts on the soon to be implemented BWCs.
“We wanted these a long time ago, and I don’t think it is going to change us,” he revealed. “It shouldn’t change how we do business; it shouldn’t change how we protect the students, faculty and staff.”
Although Chief Lawson does not see this changing policing here at Harper, he suggests it might take some getting used to for the students and staff.
“When you [students and staff] call the police here now, it’s going to be just like calling your home agencies,” he said. “You’re going to be recorded”.
Officer Michael Gicla, a Harper officer for over two years, revealed he is excited and supportive of the BWC implementation.
“Most of [the officers at Harper] will be wearing body cams for the first time, and that will require a period of adjusting to just the idea of so many incidents and encounters now being recorded,” Officer Gicla said. “But I see nothing negative whatsoever about us implementing this program and making this adjustment.”
In the event of misconduct, a civilian can gain access to the footage from an officer’s BWC. To do so, Chief Lawson recommends filling out a form that can be found at the Harper College Police Department website under “Complaint or Commendation,” or by submitting a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request.
