CMPD officers to start using body cameras Wednesday

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The first Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers to receive body cameras started training with them Tuesday.

The first officers to receive cameras are from the Metro division office.

They will spend Tuesday training, and will start wearing the cameras Wednesday as part of their regular uniform and patrol gear.

Police said the camera equipment is easy to operate. The real training comes in telling the officers when to turn them on and when it's OK to have them off.

"Unless they're just having a general conversation, any type of call for service where weapons all are involved or violence is involved we expect the officers to turn the cameras on," said Maj. Steve Willis, with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Channel 9 anchor Scott Wickersham goes through CMPD simulator training

Officers began training this week for the cameras at a time when the use of deadly force around the country is under more scrutiny than ever.

It's a split second decision in many cases.

To show how difficult it can be CMPD took Scott Wickersham through a police training simulator.

Sgt. Jason Helton walked Wickersham through the weapons: a gun, Taser and pepper spray.

Then Wickersham was thrown onto the virtual streets.

He encountered a traffic stop where the driver fumbled for his license and seems confused. Then his passenger makes a move and pulls a gun and fires at Wickersham.

Wickersham fatally wounded the passenger, but Helton points out how close he came to shooting the driver who was cowering in fear.

"Had he went, 'No, don't shoot' and leaned in, then you hit him and you are still dealing with her with a weapon " said Helton.

In a second scenario a drunken driver didn't have a gun but pointed his fingers at Wickersham and shouted, "Bang, bang."

Wickersham didn't fire his weapon, but if the driver really had a gun Wickersham could have been shot.

In other scenarios WIckersham used pepper spray or just commands to handle the situation.

Members of anti-violence group team Tru Blue think police training should include more non-lethal options.

"If I got a knife there are other ways to get it out of my hand than to kill me," said Will Adams with team Tru Blue.

That could save the lives of some suspects, or police said it could cost an officer theirs.

There's no way to predict the outcome of each real world interaction, but police hope by training new officers on simulators they can learn to make though tough decisions before the bullets are real.