STANTON, Mich. (WZZM)- Police officers in Montcalm County are taking advantage of new technology to help fight crime.
Nearly every police department in the county now uses miniature high-definition video equipment called Scorpions.
"This is the Scorpion... high definition, what we call a personal body camera," said Howard City Police Chief Steve DewWitt, the first adopter of the new technology. "It's a great tool to have."
DeWitt's enthusiasm led to donations from the County Prosecutor's Office and the Montcalm Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking.
"We found these to be very exciting, so we decided we wanted to purchase some of them," said MCPUD Member John Kroneck. "I thought maybe the coalition might want to buy two or three but they said nope, we want to do six this year and next year we want to do ten more and they just jumped on it more than I ever thought they would."
Now, police officials say 24 have been donated. Suppling nearly one thirf of the officers in the county with a Scorpion. The officers are giving rave reviews and say they are useful in plenty of situations.
"We've used it to interview homicide witnesses, drunk driving enforcement, minor-in-possession parties," said DeWitt. "I would think pretty much anything you can think of, we've used it already."
The officers wear them clearly on their lapels while on-duty and have no plans to take them undercover.
So far, the cams have all been donations from the coalition and haven't required any taxpayer money.
Police say they soon hope to have the entire county outfitted.
Believe it or not each unit only costs $125.
"Going to court is very expensive for taxpayers. When you have video evidence cases go away. It's hard to argue with a camera," said DeWitt.
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