Officers with the Pella Police Department will be wearing body cameras in the field. Lt. Bret Haupert is helping install the technology and train the staff about the new cameras, which he says has benefits to both the public and police. He says the technology is being widely adopted across the country, and provides additional transparency and evidence for both residents and officers during service calls and arrests.

“A lot of the things we look at with body cameras are, for example, if we have a use of force situation where we have to go hands on with somebody” he says. “That body cam is right there–it’s seeing what we are seeing, so if somebody is posturing like their going to assault us, it gives a lot better representation of what is actually happening.”

Haupert says the Pella Police Department aims to stay up to date with technology to better serve the public.