USM Students Share Their Opinions on Campus Police Body Cameras Being Introduced to the University
By: Chris Tiner, News Editor
In February, the Editor-in-Chief of the Free Press Dakota Eddy reported on campus police announcing they are investing in new body camera technology. In that article, the discussion was around how this was proposed back in 2020 by former president of University of Southern Maine, Glenn Cummings as he commissioned a task force to examine our public safety at USM. An overwhelming majority of the community voted yes on believing that USM officers should wear body cameras.
Now that we are getting closer to the body cameras being implemented on USM campuses, it is important to remind students how these systems will work. I have decided to anonymously interview three different students on the USM campuses and ask them different questions about how they feel with these new changes coming to the University’s Public Safety department.
Have you heard about campus police officers getting new body camera technology?
Student A- “No I had not heard about it before. I kind of assumed they already had body cameras anyway like most police do.”
Student B- “No, my first time hearing anything about it was my friends talking about it after it came out in the newspaper.”
Student C- “In terms of body cameras on our campus no, I have only heard it through the newspaper when that issue came out.”
What are or were your initial thoughts about this?
Student A- “That would make a lot of sense. Why wouldn’t they be wearing them anyway, and why wouldn’t they already have them. They should have them just in case of something serious because anything could happen.”
Student B- “I thought they should be on at all times and mandated in all places. I have seen lots of incidents before of police turning them off when they should be on and planting evidence, or doing illegal things. Not saying I think that would happen here but it could happen anywhere, that is why I think it should be mandated.”
Student C- “ I was more neutral about it than anything. I felt like it could be a benefit and downside for students. I was worried about where the funding was coming from being a student who pays for all my school on my own. I didn’t want any of our rates to go up anymore because of this.”
Do you feel something like this is necessary to have on campus? Why or why not?
Student A- “Maybe not the term necessary, but good to have on campus because of safety just in case something were to happen. Like I said, I thought the police on campus already had them so this is interesting to hear.”
Student B- “I feel like it is because it places a sense of security amongst the students that their officers will be held accountable and remain taking accountability through these cameras. There would be evidence in place in case of a wrongdoing scenario for the student, and always an extra pair of eyes to look everything over.”
Student C- “I feel like in my opinion this may be more necessary for Portland campus then Gorham. With the city in Portland being surrounded by the USM campus there are a lot more outside interactions with the community that would need police involvement. Anything could happen on any campus though so I guess it is important in general.”
I thought it would be important to inform the people I am interviewing with some further details about the body cameras after starting out the interview asking about their initial reactions. Although we discussed this happening in one of our earlier issues this year, police body cameras on USM’s campuses have not been talked about a whole lot through the community leaving many students surprised when figuring out about it.
I decided to provide further information such as the following:
-USM officers will be informing students when the body camera is being turned on unless there is an immediate safety risk involved
-They are not to record basic conversations, they are mostly to aid in law enforcement incidents, or crimes
-All of the footage recorded will be reviewed by Administration
-Only the Chief of Police at USM can publish these recordings to the public
-The technology that these body cameras posses prevents falsified or edited videos
Now that I filled in my interviewees about how these body cameras would work, I thought of some good questions to get their opinion after learning this new information about the body cameras to see how their opinions may have changed with finding out new information.
Now that I have provided you with some extra information, does your opinion on these body cameras change?
Student A- “I think those rules are fine. I like that it is being reviewed by one person in Administration. I also like that it is not recording basic conversation that is fine to me. I don’t see a reason for them to be on all the time.”
Student B- “No, my feelings are even stronger about it after hearing that. I still believe that they should be required to tell every single person that the camera is going on, not just some people.”
Student C- “I feel like it’s a positive change. I like that it will not be easily accessible by the general public before being reviewed by administration. I was under the impression at first that the cameras would be being used all the time. I like it better that it’s not used all the time and only for certain things, especially in very serious circumstances.”
Officer Farwell of the USM Police expressed that these body cameras are used to protect integrity and act as a neutral third party. Do you agree and think this will help hold that statement to be true?
Student A- “I would hope that nothing would change in officers’ behaviors because they are wearing body cameras that would be concerning. My main concern would be that the body camera is on during all times that it should be and not off when it should be on or vice versa.”
Student B- “Yes, they could be acting more professional with the camera on and avoid anything that would jeopardize their job because they have a constant pair of eyes on them and recorded evidence.”
Student C- “I think it’s a good idea to have another source of security and more information to recall details. It prevents any skewed information from either side and all the details can be recalled properly as they happened with video evidence.”
Do you think the safety of the USM community is improved with body cameras?
Student A- “I don’t see any huge safety improvements with this. For day to day situations it won’t be largely impactful I feel like, but for times and incidents where it is needed it will be extremely beneficial.”
Student B- “I do think so because it’s even more evidence and pair of eyes for more security and safety that is needed. An obvious lack of privacy is something that could come into play because in order to gain an extra sense of security sometimes you have to give up an extra level of privacy like being recorded on a body camera.”
Student C- “Not necessarily I would say. Only time can tell if it will. For now it’s more a quality of life change and another source for them to fall back on when reviewing evidence. I don’t see it as an end to stopping crime on campus or changing the safety of the community, but it will still help out when it is needed for sure.”
Sharing information with these students while spreading the word about the body cameras on campus police was very beneficial. It is important that all students know about changes like this that are happening right in their community that revolve around their safety. It is also important that students get a voice in this to express themselves, and have a place to express concerns, likes, and dislikes they may have about a change like body cameras starting to be used by USM police officers.
If you have any additional questions or concerns surrounding the body cameras or anything else safety related on campus, feel free to reach out to [email protected] or visit one of their offices on either campus;
Gorham Campus: Public Safety Building, 28 Husky Dr.
Portland Campus: Sullivan Complex, 66 Falmouth St.