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(ABC 6 News) - The Charles City Police Department has purchased additional body cameras to outfit all of its officers with the technology.

When Captain Brandon Franke joined the force 21 years ago, he was using VHS tapes to capture criminals on his dash camera. Charles City was one of the first police departments in the state to install the in-car cameras, which have since been updated.
 
Today, Captain Franke also wears a body camera each shift, though they aren’t required by law in Iowa. It’s just another way the department is providing its community with clarity.

“For police departments and for the citizens, it shows what’s going on from both sides so it’s a very good tool to have,” said Franke.

Unfortunately, they only have a handful of body cams to share between 14 officers.

“You can forget, your battery on the unit can die when you hand it off to the next guy if he gets a call right away,” Franke said.

However, thanks generous donations from those they serve, the department is now able to purchase and outfit every officer with a body camera.

“I was talking with the chief and he said this is good for the public and this is good for the officer, it’s good for the prosecutor, it’s good for the defense. It just reduces the number of questions. You don’t have the back and forth,” said Matt Bradley Vice President Marketing Manager at First Security Bank & Trust which donated $2,500 to the fundraiser.

“Working in bank, we know the value of security, we know the value of cameras and so it’s a pretty easy step to take to say further transparency is something that we’d like to support.”