By Hamilton Richardson
Elmore/Autauga News
Top Photo: John Shearon, Chilton County Sheriff points to the Nexx360 body cam worn by Deputy Mims
A revolutionary new tool being tested by local law enforcement was unveiled on Thursday, May 5, during a press conference held by CJ Robinson, Chief Deputy District Attorney of the 19th Judicial Circuit, and representatives from the Chilton County Sheriff’s Office and the Clanton Police.
The tool, which will allow law enforcement personnel to literally have others watching their backs in real time, was designed by NetOps Consulting and is currently being tested in Chilton County. If successful, the technology could spread to other surrounding counties and agencies.
“As anybody would know in the past couple years, law enforcement and first responders have been certainly in the crosshairs of criticism because of things that they do on a daily basis,” said Robinson. “Even in Alabama, there is no statutory requirement for agencies and officers to have body cams. Now there has been some legislation proposed and that legislation may pass but currently each agency decides whether or not they use that technology.”
Robinson explained that even in cases where body cams are widely used, sometimes that footage can be somewhat misleading.
“Sometimes it can be confusing,” he said. “Even when you have one camera, you have a range of vision and so you don’t know what’s happening behind the officer. You don’t know what’s happening beside the officer. You’re only looking at this one point.”
Robinson said that when it comes to technology, law enforcement often feels like it’s three steps behind.
“That is no longer the case,” he said. “We are not just on the cutting edge. Today, we are the cutting edge. We’re the first group ever selected to be part of this 360-degree body cam footage technology. This is the first time in the United States of America that this technology has been used.”
As far as how the team was chosen for this body cam test, Robinson talked about his relationship with the Chilton County Sheriff, John Shearon, and the Clanton Chief of Police, Erick Smitherman. “For 15 years, all three of us have had a daily relationship in interacting with each other.”
He also commented that law enforcement in the community is very interconnected and cooperate on a daily basis with prosecution, investigations and trainings.
“I think we were uniquely situated to be the perfect group to do this,” he said.
Lee Maurer is with NetOps Consulting International and he laid out the details of the body cam.
“We are the exclusive distributor for the Link Flow Nexx360 Camera,” he said. “The camera is all streamed live to the cloud. It’s in a geo-redundant cloud that’s used by other law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security and Department of Defense. We are really pleased that the Chilton County law enforcement team has been helping us and working diligently with us on some of the improvements and design research were going to be doing to the cameras.”
Chief Smitherman said that he would never have imagined this type of technology years ago.
“Twenty-five years ago, when I first started as a reserve, there was no such thing as a body camera,” he said. “There was basically the officer’s word. Unfortunately, the day we live in now, our word is not what it was years ago.”
He said that for the 30-day testing period of the Nexx360, two deputies and two officers will wear the devices.
“After a short time, we’ve realized the benefits to those cameras,” he said. “One thing is we can view the video from a remote location, like from our phones or a dispatch center. With a push of a button on our phones, we can actually see what those deputies and officers are doing live in real time.”
Smitherman added that as in a tactical situation, if SWAT officers go into a house or a building, being able to have a 360-view is very important.
John Shearon, Chilton County Sheriff, said, “It is an honor to be chosen to help with the demos on these.”
He pointed to Deputy Mims, who stood next to him wearing the Nexx360, and showed the four- camera system connected around his collar and plugged into a battery pack.
“With this, you’re going to see all around the officer,” he said.
Robinson commented that he looked forward to the possibility of providing camera evidence to a Grand Jury or to determine an officer’s conduct if there is a complaint from the public.
The goal, according to Maurer, is that after the testing period and any technological adjustments are made, the body cams will be available to any and all counties interested.
“We’ve got a lot of interest in it,” he said.
Robinson added, “I hope any law enforcement that wants this product, I hope they’ll have access to it.
During the press conference, footage from one of the officers who recently wore the Nexx360 on duty was shown to the group.
