RAINSVILLE, Ala. – Rainsville police officers are hitting the streets with new body cameras. “The ones we had, they would not last a whole shift,” said Chief Kevin Smith.

The department has a strict policy. “We videotape any interaction with the civilians,” said Smith.

He said it was important for the department to buy new and improved cameras for every officer on duty. “The officers have cameras to last them the whole shift,” said Smith. That is more than 12 hours of battery life.

So exactly how do the cameras work? “It’ll go under the shirt,” explained Smith. “Say if they wanted to wear it on the shirt like this and it’s magnetic.”

It just takes a flip of a switch to turn it on. “To activate it they just double tap that and you’re recording,” he said.

According to Smith, these cameras provide a lot more than just video.

“It has got dates, times that are constantly updated on the camera as it’s moving. It also has GPS coordinates.” There is also a back record that picks up anything that happened 30 seconds before pressing the record button.

Smith said the goal is to protect both the officers and citizens of Rainsville. “If the citizen complains, if the officer is out of line I can do the proper disciplinary action or I can say no ‘you’re not telling the truth’ here’s the footage and it clears the officer.”