BLOOMINGTON– Today, the Office of the Mayor and Bloomington Police Department (BPD) announced several new initiatives aimed at increasing recruitment, providing modern policing tools, and supporting safer, faster response to incidents.
First, in an effort to recruit quality applicants and retain current personnel, Mayor Kerry Thomson recently announced an individually issued patrol vehicle program for officers of the Bloomington Police Department. Under this new program, officers can take their patrol vehicles home. The policy mirrors programs already in place at surrounding agencies, thereby eliminating a difficult recruiting hurdle.
Take-home cars also allow for a quicker, safer response to large-scale incidents, as officers have their equipment with them and can respond directly to the scene of an event even while off-duty. Since the new policy was announced, officers have responded to multiple calls for service while off-duty, including a recent event in which off-duty officers arrived within moments of shots fired in a busy shopping center parking lot.
Second, beginning in May, BPD officers will receive training and be issued the latest in less-lethal technology, the Taser 10. The Taser 10 allows officers to use a less-lethal response in critical situations and works seamlessly with the body cameras that officers already wear. As soon as the taser is drawn from the holster, cameras in the vicinity will be immediately activated, ensuring that any use is recorded. This is the only remaining actionable item in President Obama’s Final Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing that the Bloomington Police Department has yet to complete. BPD is the last law enforcement agency in Monroe County to equip their officers with these tools.
Also starting in May, Flock Safety Falcon cameras will be activated at various locations around Bloomington. These cameras monitor vehicular traffic and provide investigators with immediate information, based upon vehicle descriptors and/or license plate numbers, that can assist in locating suspect vehicles and vehicles associated with missing persons, Silver Alerts, and Amber Alerts. Flock cameras capture license plates and vehicle characteristics, not people or faces. Each search by a user requires a justification, and Flock does not share or sell data to third parties. The cameras will be used to solve property and violent crimes and are not intended to be used for minor traffic violations.
BPD’s cameras will work with other Flock cameras already currently in use by other area agencies, thereby expanding the effectiveness of the technology. Currently over 4,000 communities and over 3,000 police departments utilize Flock cameras to help solve and deter crime. Communities using Flock technology have reported significant crime reductions. The Bloomington Police Department is confident that the deployment of the cameras will assist in a reduction of crime in this City as well.
