Universities throughout Louisiana are under an irksome situation as state budgets for higher education are being reduced. Budget cuts are currently underway at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in preparation to keep all university departments in continuation and function, despite the decreased funding from the state.
Subsequent funding from the University to its departments not only cements crucial advancements for its community, but also maintains the traditions that make the University known as UL Lafayette are preserved. The University’s police department, ULPD, is one department that uses its funding from the University to ensure they provide the best services and safety to the UL Lafayette community. One area of the police department that these findings are allocated towards is police body cameras.
In law enforcement, with modern age and technological expansion, body cameras have become an essential equipment in the day-to-day routines of police officers. They serve legitimacy about each interaction an authority has with a citizen and provide factual evidence for both parties involved. Hence it is vital that all officers of the ULPD have a body camera and one that functions properly and in line with the everchanging commercial advancements.
Besides body cameras, another use of university funding goes towards street cameras throughout UL Lafayette. The demand for increased cameras on university property heightened after a shooting that occurred at Legacy Park Apartments in the spring of 2022, as camera footage of the incident showed that the cameras at the time were inadequate to provide wholesome information if another incident of this severity were to happen again.
Sergeant Lance Frederick, public information officer for the ULPD, further spoke on the matter.
“Body cameras are cameras worn on the person of the officer that gets involved, that way you can get a better understanding of what they see in real time,” Frederick explained. These cameras are useful in situations where the responding officer’s actions are questioned by the other party and help in getting the correct unfolding of events during a given interaction.
“Most of the things we deal with is, they question the decisions officers made, when they have several days to so. When an officer has to make a decision, it is very fast, and it’s to try to show that. We have to make the best, sound decision in the information that’s provided in the time that is provided.”
Frederick shared that body cameras offer accurate information about events officers encounter with subjects that they may not recall later. Hence, body cameras are used during the report writing process and investigational processes to gather factual evidence about any interaction.
“Another thing it does is it helps with transparency. That goes on both sides. It holds officers accountable, and it keeps the integrity of the investigation,” Frederick said. There are times when people accuse officers of misconduct, and the body cameras help in understanding if such allegations were correct or not.
ULPD police units also have in-car cameras that come additionally equipped. The units are purchased as any ordinary vehicle and then receive additional equipment as needed to be a police unit. “In 2008, in-car cameras were purchased for all the vehicles. It wasn’t until 2015 we could get the funding for body cameras, and at the time we bought 50,” Frederick said.
Having been nine years, almost 10, Frederick explained that many of the body cameras are now not functioning properly due to either breaking or from natural wear. At the same time, it becomes increasingly difficult to get companies to replace or fix the cameras, as they move forward to newer versions of the system and no longer will fix older cameras.
“And when you buy a whole new one, you have to buy a whole new system because the connectivity is different. You have to buy the brain, the antennas, the storage, the data.”
“We bought body cameras, we just purchased 45 new. So with that new, we have to get…new everything. That was purchased along with 16 car cameras. We’re replacing all cameras,” Frederick elaborated.
With replacing all cameras, the ULPD estimates the purchase to be nearly $397,000, which will be paid for by the department over a period of three years.
Frederick explained that the new body cameras have the capability of staying on during an officer’s shift and activating at any time. If one camera is activated, the others will subsequently follow suit. GPS technology of the devices also allow supervisors to track officers and observe the cameras remotely, in real-time.
Majority of the time, all ULPD officers have a body camera, though due to a lack of operating cameras currently, not all officers have one. Those on patrol and in attendance at events now get higher priority in having a body camera with them. With the new purchase, all 41 officers and employees at the ULPD will likely be sure to have a body camera with them. Now regarding the street cameras in connection to the Legacy Park Apartment incident a few years back, a shooting occurred in February 2022.
The calls for service and video observed an individual walking to the Legacy Park Apartments with a vehicle following behind the pedestrian. Three subjects in ski masks then got out of the vehicle and proceeded to shoot at the individual. As the individual ran into the complex, the shots continued to fire at the subject, and in turn, came in contact with some apartments. Footage of the incident was captured by the cameras at the time, however, the issue arose in that the incident occurred directly in front of cameras in that area and were in their blindspots. Due to this criticality, the University purchased 24 additional cameras through a grant it received and installed the new cameras around January of 2023 when the order arrived. A survey of the area determined 24 cameras will likely eliminate the blind spot issues.
Similar updates were made to the daycare at the UL Lafayette Child Development Center which received nine additional cameras following the incident and with the new Heritage Apartments having a plethora of cameras at the time it was built.
Cameras for the ULPD are just a fraction of the costs the department must face. “The Police Department would not be able to have this equipment without the help of the University,” Frederick concluded.
Therefore, it is essential that funding for areas of the University that actively serve to protect, educate and preserve the values and community of UL Lafayette are maintained in allowing them to function to their best capacity.