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Police Department makes surveillance upgrades to booking area

Date: 5/15/2015

CHICOPEE – The city’s Police Department will now offer greater protection to both people who are being booked and for officers themselves.

On May 5, Mayor Richard Kos and Police Chief William Jebb announced the purchase and installation of four new high definition cameras that monitor the entire booking areas as well as an additional camera in the elevator serving the area.

The department also has purchased “spit socks,” a loose mesh hood that can be placed over the head of a prisoner if they are bleeding or spitting.

Officer Michael Wilk said the changes are part of the overall improvements to the department made by Jebb. He added the current lawsuit in which a prisoner alleges to have been choked by an officer did come up in the discussion about the new system.

Wilk said the new video system does protect officers and prisoners alike.

Bringing this reporter back to the booking room, he showed how the old system worked. The three cameras that covered part of the room had to be turned on individually by an officer behind the booking desk.

Now officers do not have to activate a camera as the system is recording constantly and covers every angle of the booking area.

The “spit socks” are designed not to impede the breathing of a prisoner but provide “an extra barrier” for officer from coming in contact with a body fluid.

Taxpayers did not pay the new additions to the police headquarters. Wilk explained the funding for the new video system was $10,000 from assets that have been confiscated during drug arrests.

“I am glad Chief Jebb and the Police Department have addressed the deficient areas of our booking process and have taken these steps to ensure the safety of both the officers and detainees,” Kos said.