NEW CAMERAS TO HELP DEPUTIES DOCUMENT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

(Article from www.policeone.com)

OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. - Ottawa County sheriff’s deputies will no longer have to rely on the chance that a detective with a 35 mm camera is nearby. Now, deputies will have a high-tech camera capable of detecting the smallest details at domestic violence scenes.

The camera, a high-definition Polaroid, will produce pictures so clear that deputies will be able to photograph fingerprints. Deputies will also be able to capture bruises, cuts and other injuries of domestic abuse victims on film.

More than 60 deputies were issued Polaroid Spectra Law Enforcement Camera Kits and will attend a three-hour seminar hosted by the Polaroid School of Law Enforcement Imaging. During the seminar, the deputies will learn how to photograph victims’ injuries in a non-intrusive manner.

Ottawa County prosecutors will be at the seminar, teaching deputies how to best document injuries for evidence.

“You only get one opportunity to document,” Sheriff’s Detective James Brack said. “Proper documentation of domestic violence cases, including on-the-spot instant photographs, provides the crucial ‘chain of evidence’ to effectively and successfully prosecute batterers.”

Backup news staff writer Holly Cooley