Newark parking enforcement officers will begin wearing body cams

Starting this fall, Newark's parking enforcement officers will begin wearing body cameras to record their interactions with the public.

The 24 cameras, as well as associated software and digital storage, will cost the city approximately $136,000 over five years. City council approved the expenditure last week.

Planning Director Renee Bensley, who oversees the parking division, explained during a budget meeting last fall that the cameras are intended to improve safety for employees.

“One of the main reasons we have brought this forward is we have had more incidents of aggressive encounters with folks who are being ticketed or being booted by our parking ambassadors,” Bensley said.

She also sees the cameras as a tool to de-escalate situations involving a driver who might be angry over getting a ticket. She recalled a recent incident in which a driver whose car was being booted became belligerent and later tried to file charges against the parking officer, claiming he was assaulted.

“A lot of times if they know they are being filmed, they behave differently,” Bensley said.

When an incident occurs, supervisors will review the footage as part of an after-action report and talk with the officer about what went right and what could have been done differently. The footage will also be used to train new officers.

In addition, camera footage can be used in court when drivers try to fight a ticket.

Newark's parking officers experimented with body cameras once before, during a pilot program in 2014.

At the time, parking officers were a civilian branch of the Newark Police Department, and the department used them to evaluate the effectiveness of the cameras. The one-year trial was instituted because “there were some complaints about parking enforcement officer demeanor,” a police spokesman said at the time.

After that, though, parking officers were transferred to the planning department and stopped wearing the cameras as city officials rebranded the officers as “parking ambassadors” and tried to give them a softer, friendlier image.

Police officers in Newark have worn body cameras since early 2020.