Officers with the Lompoc Police Department have added body-worn cameras to their tool belts, with the chief’s pronouncement of “They’re here” prompting applause during the City Council meeting.

On Tuesday night, Chief Kevin Martin debuted the small camera about the size of a cellphone and attached to his uniform on his chest.

“We are very, very excited to finally bring this to the community,” Martin said. “The officers have been wanting it for some time, and thanks to the council, the staff and the city, we’re finally able to do that.”

Lompoc became one of the last police departments in Santa Barbara County to equip officers with body-worn cameras after the Guadalupe and Santa Barbara police departments and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office have had them in place for a few years. The Santa Maria Police Department deployed body-worn cameras in late 2023.

California Highway Patrol officers don’t officially have body-worn cameras, but some members reportedly purchased their own.

Discussions about equipping Lompoc police officers with body-worn cameras have taken place for several years, Councilman Jeremy Ball said, adding that they will help increase transparency.

“I think this is obviously beneficial in many different contexts,” Ball said. “From the community side, there’s trust in the Police Department, and I think this will help with that. Also from the Police Department side, there have been many cases where we didn’t have the proof but we felt like we were right about something, and it’s good to have that clarity.”

The City Council authorized the approximately $350,000 purchase in August.

“One big part of this is it was never about the technology. It was really about having the personnel in place to manage the Public Records Act requests and the action that’s required by the Police Department when we release video,” Martin said.  

A grant from the One805 nonprofit organization allowed the department to also purchase a computer and software that uses artificial intelligence to process videos and blur faces, license plates or other sensitive information, Martin said. 

“It significantly speeds up our ability to process videos,” Martin said. 

For now, recordings are 720p with the option to increase to 1080p, but they’ve hesitated since recordings must be stored digitally.

“This is great technology,” Martin said. 

Body-worn cameras won’t replace dash cameras in patrol vehicles, which will remain in use but have been upgraded. 

During the meeting, Martin showed a recording of an officer dealing with a parking violation to demonstrate the quality of the images and audio. 

The software creates captions but doesn’t always use the proper spelling, Martin said. For instance, the caption used “site” instead of “cite” during the parking violation video. 

Additionally, the software automatically will translate some spoken foreign languages, such as Spanish. 

“We’re really happy with what we’ve got so far,” he said. 

Arrival of the cameras also has meant adding a new chapter of the policy manual, which said the devices must be placed above the waist, includes details about how long recordings should be kept and more.

The department’s policy manual spells out rules for officers’ use of the body-worn cameras, saying they should be used “unless it is unsafe or impractical to do so, or mechanical issues that impede the use of the device are present” and note six types of situations when officers should activate the devices.

According to policy, officers should activate cameras “in anticipation of investigative and/or enforcement encounters where there is a reasonable suspicion that the person is involved in criminal activity or a violation of law. This includes but is not limited to dispatched calls, self-initiated activities, traffic stops, pedestrian checks, and any other investigative or enforcement encounters of law.”

Others include maintaining peace at a protest, responding with lights and sirens to an event or dealing with a crash involving an officer.

It also outlines where officers should not activate recordings, including in locker rooms, the police station or at court facilities. They also should assess the situation before recording in schools or hospitals. 

Cameras shouldn’t be viewed as a shortcut for writing incident reports, according to the policy manual, advising, “Officers should not substitute ‘refer to video’ for a detailed and thorough report.”

Body-worn cameras aren’t the only new technology planned for the department. 

During the meeting Tuesday night, the Lompoc council awarded a nearly $4 million contract to EJ Johnson Co. for the replacement of the radio system used by police officers and other city staff. 

The current system has not been updated in nearly three decades. 

Once the new police radios begin operating later this year, people who enjoy listening to emergency dispatch traffic will lose access since the new system will encrypt dispatch communications typically broadcast over scanners or scanner application. 

Santa Maria’s Police Department has encrypted its dispatch radio communications for several years since the installation of its new equipment.