Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

It's good to be caught on tape

Chief Zimmerman quoted in Taser marketing materials

SDPD chief Shelley Zimmerman
SDPD chief Shelley Zimmerman

Scottsdale, Arizona-based Taser International is touting lower reports of public complaints about use of force in the San Diego Police Department to peddle its Axon line of body cameras to other police forces throughout the country.

"The body cameras have proven to be a positive game-changer for our department and the San Diego community," says San Diego police chief Shelley Zimmerman in a press release issued by the company on Thursday, March 26.

A pilot program had 600 officers equipped with the cameras by the end of 2014, with another 400 expected to be outfitted sometime this year. According to a report delivered to the city council earlier this month, police complaints have fallen 40 percent, and allegations of misconduct dropped nearly 60 percent since the cameras were turned on last year. Police further state that "personal body weapon" and "chemical agent" use against citizens have both dropped since the cameras were deployed.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Still, the department reported over 16,000 incidents where physical force was used in 2014, a frequency activists say is still far too high.

While San Diego is touted as the model case in Taser's marketing, the release also refers to studies in Rialto, California, and Mesa, Arizona, that found significantly greater reductions in citizen complaints.

Earlier this year, the county sheriff's department formally began studying a body-camera program of its own amid concerns over the cameras' reliability, cost, and concerns raised over the privacy rights of citizens caught on tape.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Hip-hop artist Don Elway makes movies for his music

Not Ordinary EP tells a story of life on the streets
Next Article

Not enough Readers in Mission Beach

Mayor Todd Gloria's skin color
SDPD chief Shelley Zimmerman
SDPD chief Shelley Zimmerman

Scottsdale, Arizona-based Taser International is touting lower reports of public complaints about use of force in the San Diego Police Department to peddle its Axon line of body cameras to other police forces throughout the country.

"The body cameras have proven to be a positive game-changer for our department and the San Diego community," says San Diego police chief Shelley Zimmerman in a press release issued by the company on Thursday, March 26.

A pilot program had 600 officers equipped with the cameras by the end of 2014, with another 400 expected to be outfitted sometime this year. According to a report delivered to the city council earlier this month, police complaints have fallen 40 percent, and allegations of misconduct dropped nearly 60 percent since the cameras were turned on last year. Police further state that "personal body weapon" and "chemical agent" use against citizens have both dropped since the cameras were deployed.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Still, the department reported over 16,000 incidents where physical force was used in 2014, a frequency activists say is still far too high.

While San Diego is touted as the model case in Taser's marketing, the release also refers to studies in Rialto, California, and Mesa, Arizona, that found significantly greater reductions in citizen complaints.

Earlier this year, the county sheriff's department formally began studying a body-camera program of its own amid concerns over the cameras' reliability, cost, and concerns raised over the privacy rights of citizens caught on tape.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Will L.A. Times crowd out San Diego U-T at Riverside printing plant?

Will Toni Atkins stand back from anti-SDG&E initiative?
Next Article

Looking back at race relations in Coronado

A former football player recalls the good and the bad
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.