ELLENVILLE – The July 13 announcement by Chief Mattracion that Ellenville Police are now wearing body cameras brought the village right into the vanguard of the new wave of policing technique that is starting to revolutionize law enforcement across America.

Mattracion explained that the department's officers had undergone a full in-service training with the devices on July 11 and that they were now deployed.

The move to police body-cameras received a lot of impetus from recent incidents such as the death last summer of a young black man in Ferguson, MO, and the more recent death of Freddie Gray in police custody in Baltimore. That one moved Hillary Clinton to call for every police department in the US to adopt the technology.

Los Angeles, which has had its share of infamous incidents involving police charged with brutality, announced last December that the LAPD would buy 7,000 body cameras in a deal worth $42 million. Other police departments, large and small, are either implementing or considering the move.

As Chief Mattracion noted, the cameras have a multi-pronged effect.

"First and foremost: it promotes transparency and will serve to further foster the bonds of trust with the community as a whole," he said. "Second; with all the officers wearing them that respond to any reported call for service, it will give a variety of angles that will encompass the whole picture if you will, from beginning to end. In other words, it will show the incident in its entirety instead of just one view from a passer-by's cell phone that catches the incident in the middle and therefore serves to taint the perception of the viewer."

Mattracion added, "I want to be able to provide both the prosecution and the defense, in the outcome of any given event, an accurate and factual transcript that will give those responsible for determining the evidence in any case a true and distinct perception that is reality. My members have embraced this technology in large part because they know they are not doing anything wrong, and they want the public to know and trust that fact and, as they have told me, they have nothing to hide. Technology is ever evolving, and law enforcement like any other entity must either embrace it, or get run over by its path. Body cameras for this agency are just another tool that will support the mobile audio and video dash cameras we already have deployed for the last seven years."

Mattracion said the department has opted for the Prima Facie Body Camera from Linstar. These cameras can shoot video in 1080p high definition, and have automatic infrared illuminators for low light situations. They boast a police microphone interface and can also take high-res still images.

Mattracion noted with some satisfaction that the department has had two incidents so far in which the cameras have served their purpose. One was a DWI, and the camera simply provided evidence. The other incident involved a pursuit and the accused, when captured, began to offer claims against the arresting officers until informed that everything had been recorded on the cameras, at which point he fell silent.

"My officers welcome this technology," said Mattracion. "We're doing our job and this will just help us do it better."