Danville Police Chief Chris Yates says that his department still has to purchase a few more body cameras before it can be in compliance with the police-reform law that was signed on Monday.
The new law does not require body cameras until 2025, but Yates says the demand for the cameras will be increasing since every agency in the state will be requesting them.
Yates says that the department has 28 body cameras in use, out of more than 40 patrol officers and other investigators. The city purchased the cameras last year with grant funding. He says there haven’t been many problems with using the cameras, other than some officers having to share body cameras. He says one emergency situation during a shift change recently did require extra work with body cameras.
“We had to be really careful to make sure that everybody on the street either had a camera or was with someone that had a camera,” he explained. “We were able to do it but it was difficult.”
Yates says he is still in the process of reading over the new law and says he does not want to share opinions on it, other than to say that Danville police will be complying with the law and will continue to keep city residents safe. He says some officers could decide to retire over it, but he notes some Danville officers have reached the age where they are able to retire, and he could put out a supplemental list of applicants.
