SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — The Winter Springs Police Department has suspended its body camera program not even one year after it was launched.
Channel 9's Racquel Asa first learned that the department suspended the program in a police report involving a DUI stop.
“In my case, the officer was saying that my client can barely stand up and he's falling over and leaning on the car for balance, and luckily the back-up officer had a body camera from Oviedo,” said attorney Matthew Olszewski.
Police Chief Kevin Brunelle said the department had one or two months where the cameras worked. Brunelee said software problems were a major issue. In one case, the video showed a time stamp of Dec. 31, 1979, when the actual date of the report was Dec. 5, 2015.
“The simple fact of the matter is for them to be effective in court, in officer complaints, or normal information for the community out there, they have to work,” Brunelle said.
The chief told Eyewitness News that his department has already narrowed future options down to two new body camera companies and hopes to have the program running by this same time next year.
The chief said he sent the cameras back to the company because they were still under warranty. That decision allowed him to refund the state the money it gave them for the cameras.
Cox Media Group
