The City of Noblesville is partnering with BodyWorn by Utility to provide the Noblesville Police Department (NPD) with body worn cameras before the end of the summer as part of ongoing commitments to increase transparency and effectiveness of community-based law enforcement and public safety efforts.
Funding for body worn cameras was included in the 2020 police department budget approved by the Common Council last fall. Noblesville leveraged its purchasing power and vendor selection options to obtain active shooter response technology that could be fully integrated into the body camera communication and dispatch platform.
The active shooter response technology directly communicates in real time with NPD body worn cameras in the event of an emergency and gives an exact GPS location with a floorplan of a gunshot for an immediate officer response to all officers on duty wearing a body worn camera. This immediate integration has not been previously deployed anywhere in the nation and saves valuable minutes on time that would otherwise be lost on a 911 call and dispatch.
Gunshot detection devices are also being offered through the City of Noblesville to other public and private entities in the community who are interested. This offering is unique and marks Noblesville as the first in the country to offer gunshot detection devices to public and private organizations. Any devices deployed in the community will be directly connected to the NPD body camera communication system to facilitate immediate notification and response. Public safety officials are in communication with public and private entities in the community for future deployment of the devices.
“This fully integrated system allows our police force to have the quickest reaction times possible,” Mayor Chris Jensen said. “We are excited to be leading the nation and be able to offer the gunshot detection devices to community partners. This first-of-its-kind community integration puts our city at the forefront of public safety and we thank the police department for putting in the work and finding the best technology out there.”
Mann
Jensen
Unlike other body worn camera systems, BodyWorn by Utility has immediate video offload during recording and encrypted cloud-based evidence documentation, which permits immediate evidence review.
“Several body worn camera systems were tested by our officers for more than five months before BodyWorn was selected and backed by the administration,” Police Chief John Mann said. “This system includes vital tools we need and cloud-based offload for immediate review in the event of an incident. BodyWorn will allow our officers to be the best at their jobs while strengthening our transparency and accountability.”
All 95 NPD officers will be equipped with a body worn camera. Future integration of other public safety tools with BodyWorn is currently being examined.