Next-Gen Body Cams Part of $85K Public Safety Grant
Public safety officers at NJIT will soon receive the next generation of body cams, all paid by a $85K grant from the state. The university purchased its first batch in 2016, then again in 2019. Now, the state is picking up the tab.
The department will also migrate data storage to an off-site server for faster and more convenient access to body cam footage. Meanwhile, department vehicles, already outfitted with traffic-oriented cameras on top, will be retrofitted with interior cameras that will capture a 360-degree view.
Body cams need replacement about every two or three years, and the public safety department would rather restock with upgrades. The new cameras, made by Pro Vision, have a longer battery life and improved design. Most notably, the indicator light that signals the camera is on is much more visible. On the previous generation, a small red light blinked on the top of the device when recording. Now, the red light is a large red circle underneath the camera lens, clearly indicating a recording is in progress.
NJIT ranked 6th in the nation last year in safety initiatives.
The grant totals $85,596 and will be dispersed over five years: $17,119.20 in year one; $21,399 in year two; $29,958.60 in year three; $4,279.80 in year four; and $12,839.40 in year five.
The Department of Public Safety was an early adopter of body cam technology in 2016, and it was that forward-thinking department culture that helped NJIT rank 6th nationwide in safety initiatives by Safe Campus last year. Chief Joseph Marswillo, who is in his 25th year at the NJIT Department of Public Safety, helped spearhead the grant application with the leadership team.
"With the university coming back, it is critical for us to do everything we’ve done and do it better than we’ve done it," said Marswillo. "With everyone being gone so long, so much of the NJIT community, we will be new to them as a department. So, we have to re-educate and get out in front of our community to let them know what we’re about and we stand for, what we’re capable of doing, what we’ve done in the past, and what we’ll continue to do."
The implementation of the university’s first body cam program in 2016 was a welcome, but big change for the department culture.
“It created accountability,” said Marswillo. “Some hesitation was there at the beginning, with that feeling of being micromanaged, but everyone has embraced it. Now, we feel like if we had body cams [in the past], it would have helped a lot.”
We were at the forefront of body cam adoption.
“We were at the forefront of body cam adoption,” said Deputy Chief Kevin Kesselman. “Now, it comes down to the officers’ ability and willingness to de-escalate. Knowing all actions are recorded, everyone stays calmer in these situations.”
The new cameras and server changeover will come almost in time for the students’ return for the fall semester. Marswillo said he expects officers to start donning the new tech in September or October.
It’s not only Public Safety Officers taking part in new safety initiatives. Students, faculty, and staff now have access to Active Threat Training/Emergency Response Training, otherwise known as ALICE (for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate). A concerted effort to train the entire NJIT community has resulted in a 98% completion rate of the program for NJIT full-time employees.
Beyond body cams and ALICE training, the Department of Public Safety has received training from the New York Police Department in highly tactical and elite practices for active-threat response. The arrangement, now on hold during pandemic, was the first time the NYPD allowed an outside agency to train with its own officers.
The Department of Public Safety has been humming in the background of the pandemic, readying for the eventual return-to-campus and two new classes of students.
“This is going to be our first impression for a lot of the new faces in the community. We have to make sure they have that sense of safety we worked so hard for over the years,” said Marswillo. “I told my guys that this year we’re treating this like a new police department."