Pueblo police: Body cameras help reduce complaints

Six months into wearing body cameras, Pueblo police said they’re seeing big improvements.

The number of complaints against officers this year is down by 17 percent, compared to this same time last year.

“Officers are finding it’s a great protection,” said Sgt. Eric Gonzales of the cameras, which patrol officers began wearing in January.

So far this year, there have been 45 complaints made against officers, compared to 54 at the same time in 2014 and 52 complaints in 2013 during the same time period.

Pueblo police told KRDO NewsChannel 13 the cameras have helped clear their names when confronted with baseless accusations.

“We had one example of an individual coming to the department stating that the officer groped them and once we went to the body camera, it was nowhere seen in any video that had happened so that was dropped,” Gonzales said.

“It is a win, win for everybody, I think,” said Dr. Margaret Redmond, executive director of the Human Relations Commission, which makes recommendations to the police department.

Redmond said the cameras are showing the results the department promised.

“People who are having an interaction with the law enforcement people — they realize that they’re on camera so they can’t say they didn’t do something or say something that they did do,” Redmond said.

Police said the cameras are holding both officers and citizens accountable.

Gonzales said the cameras are also saving them time. Before the cameras, it could take up to a month to investigate a complaint. Now, with video evidence, it can be done in minutes.