Law enforcement officers are getting new cameras to help fight domestic violence in San Diego County.
Dozens of high-quality Nikon cameras will be in the hands of officers and first responders.
Officers who respond to a domestic violence call either don’t have a high-quality camera or rely on using an iPhone to document injuries, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.
iPhone images can have low resolution or be blurry, officials said.
“Rather than pulling out the iPhone and working on the iPhone, you’re able to call out a forensic tech who might have this camera who can take a more clear photograph that can be used in court,” Escondido Police Chief Craig Carter said.
The cameras are expected to them better document domestic violence injuries that will lead to more effective prosecutions.
Especially in cases that involve strangulation where visible signs of injury can be difficult to capture in an image.
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"In law enforcement, we’re looking for any way we can close that gap of an individual not getting prosecuted to the fullest degree and if a photo is not good enough for that initial court case, we feel bad about that and we want to make sure that we correct that," Carter said.
Using $30,000 in funds from the California Office of Emergency services, the District Attorney's Office will be distributing 35 cameras by the end of June.
