By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
If you run a red light and get stopped by a police officer, don’t bother denying it.
It’s caught on video.
Digital technology helps the Salisbury Police Department record emergency incidents, and all new patrol vehicles are outfitted with camera equipment.
The WatchGuard digital cameras have internal drives that record everything.
The camera is always on, but when an officer activates the lights, siren or both, the internal drive begins recording and stores the footage on DVD.
When an officer brakes and turns on his lights, the camera indicates the changes.
The system can save images for up to two minutes before the incident, said Salisbury Patrol Officer Brad Johnson.
The camera in Jordan’s vehicle is set to save video captured 45 seconds before his emergency lights and siren are activated. During a recent speed campaign, Jordan’s camera kept up with a speeding motorist.
The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office has had the same type of camera equipment about two years.
Salisbury police received the equipment this year, said Lt. Melonie Thompson, with the Salisbury Police Special Operations unit.
Salisbury has eight cameras and the department expects to get eight more next budget year. Each camera costs $5,000.
The cameras will replace older-model cameras patrol cars are equipped with. Those cameras do record, but the quality is not as good.
“The others don’t have the internal hard drive. It records to a flash card,” Thompson said. “It also records to VHS.”
Thompson said with the older cameras, the image and sound aren’t as clear.
The new cameras will also record in night vision, she said, and will also record to the DVD the speed at which an officer’s radar tracks a car.
Officers also wear pagers that beep if they get too far from their vehicles, Thompson said.