WATAUGA – The first recording devices police officers carried were voice recorders attached to the shoulders of their uniforms.

Photos by RODGER MALLISON/ Special Contributor

Left: Watauga police Sgt. Bobby Faglie, a motorcycle officer, downloads video from one of the new cameras to record his traffic stops. The video is in a format that cannot be edited.

Then came video cameras mounted in patrol cars.

And now, in Watauga and other jurisdictions in the state, police officers are wearing clip-on video cameras.

In recent weeks, three Watauga motorcycle officers have been equipped with Vievu cameras to record traffic stops.

Patrol officers still have video recorders in their cars.

"Down the road, I could see where our patrol officers will have the clip-on cameras along with video recorders in their cars," Police Chief Rande Benjamin said. "For us, we just need cameras for our motorcycle officers because they didn't have any type of video cameras."

In Texas, 45 to 50 law enforcement agencies use the cameras, according to Heidi Traverso, a spokeswoman for Vievu, the Seattle company that designs and manufactures the cameras.

Across the country, 600 law enforcement agencies have equipped their officers with the cameras, said Traverso, a 15-year Seattle police veteran.

"It's one switch, no wires, and you clip it on and go," Traverso said. "It's a tool that officers will be using."

The cameras, which cost $699 to $899, are used by firefighters, private security companies and insurance adjusters.

In some area departments, motorcycle officers have video cameras mounted on their bikes, but those cost $3,000 to $5,000 each, and a few departments have reported problems with them because of exposure to heat and cold, authorities said.

In Watauga, the clip-on video cameras were tested for a month during the summer, police said.

The city paid $800 each for the cameras and about $500 for extra hard drives for storage.

"The cameras can hold about four hours of video," said Sgt. Bobby Faglie, a motorcycle officer in the department. "A traffic stop takes two to three minutes, so we have plenty of space during a 10-hour shift."

Faglie said he welcomed the new tool.

"You just can't tell what people will say to you or how they will act," he said.

"People can really get upset at times for getting a ticket."

The cameras will capture how the motorist and officer behave, Faglie said.

In Watauga, a motorist has 30 days to file a complaint against an officer after an incident. Officers' video is kept for three months, Benjamin said.

"For the most part, people just don't like being on camera," Benjamin said. "But these cameras are being used to protect the officer, the city and the motorist."

Fort Worth Star-Telegram