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After an equipment glitch hampered the rollout of police body cameras in April, the Chesterfield Police Department has announced the program is back on track with 240 body cameras currently on the street and 11,000 video recordings, thus far.

A spokesperson for the department said that additional cameras will be put in service each week as more officers go through the required training for the devices. The goal is to have a total of 450 police officers equipped with cameras over the next few months.

The initial rollout was stalled with approximately 50 of the cameras which had been put in place had to be pulled off the street because of an issue with cables that connect the camera and controller becoming overheated. The cables were described as “hot to the touch” and so all the cameras were pulled by the company awarded the body camera contract, Axon. The company was formerly known as Taser International.

All of the videos recorded by police will be stored on a cloud-based storage system provided by Axon. So far, officers have averaged 343 videos each day. The debate of whether or not law enforcement agencies should require officers to wear body cameras has garnered increased debate over the past few years, especially in light of several high-profile police shootings.

One of the most controversial of those incidents was the fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown by Ferguson, Mo. police officer Darren Wilson. At the time of the controversial shooting, more than 75 percent of law enforcement agencies in the country were not using body cameras. This has led to many criminal justice advocates, as well as many law makers, to push legislation requiring the cameras.

There are several benefits of police body cameras, including the increase of police accountability and collection of evidence. Many police departments find that once officers are equipped with the cameras, the number of citizen complaints sharply decrease.

In Chesterfield, the cameras are being given to patrol officers and patrol sergeants and will be used mostly for incidents such as traffic stops or crimes which are allegedly in progress.

In a discussion regarding the body cameras, Attorney Braswell of the Price Benowitz Law Firm commented, “I think it should be a requirement of every law enforcement agency in the country that body cameras be part of the standard equipment for every officer. It is a critical component in making sure officer do not cross the line into unacceptable — or dangerous — behaviors.”

This weekly column is written and sponsored by D.C. real estate agent and Kalorama resident Jeffrey Tanck.  He can be reached at [email protected].

As an active Realtor I see a lot of homes. Between showing properties to Buyers and preparing properties for Sellers, I have a unique insight on how people actually live. While not universal, one of the things that has struck me over the years is how much stuff people have that they actually never use: boxes in closets/storage areas, unused clothing, plastic take-out containers, books, inherited items that we don’t know what to do with, CDs and other outmoded media.

I’m going to call it what it is: Clutter. Clutter can cause an emotional response — and it’s usually negative. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests clutter is bad for us physically and mentally. It’s also expensive.

Clutter and real estate have a complicated relationship. Sellers spend a lot of time getting rid of clutter before they put their house on the market to make it look more spacious. Buyers look at places through the lens of their current clutter and how it will fit into their future home.

If a Buyer’s current kitchen is stuffed full of take-out containers, they will judge the kitchens during their home search by the way they will be able to store those same containers in the new space. If that Buyer edited their plastic collection down to the few pieces they actually use, they would likely discover that the smaller kitchen in that cute apartment would actually be perfect.

In the era of micro units and rising real estate costs, every square foot really does count. Price per square foot is a popular data point that many people use to value real estate.

It is an easily computed metric that can give an indication of value: sales price/property’s square footage = price per square foot. (more…)

In 2005, as a response to the 9/11 attacks, the federal government passed the Real ID Act. This law set standards for all accepted forms of identification, such as state driver’s licenses.

The law prohibits federal agencies from accepting forms of identification that are not in compliance with the standards. The law now requires stricter proof of residence as a way to prevent a repeat of what happened with the 9/11 terrorists. Some of the terrorists had obtained fraudulent identifications and more than half of them has been issued driver’s licenses by the state of Virginia.

In order to give states time to comply with the act, the federal government, under the direction of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), announced a phasing in of enforcement. Each state was given a certain amount of time to implement the new driver’s license rules.

As part of the Real ID Act, these new licenses will be required at all TSA checkpoints to board domestic flights. The new rule will begin January 2018. Only the new licenses or licenses from states which were granted extensions by DHS will be accepted.

TSA will also accept a passport or military identification card. The state of Virginia was one of the states issued an extension and will begin issuing the new licenses beginning in October 2018.

In order to obtain a new license, drivers will have to produce two forms of identification and their social security card. Residents have until October 2020 to get the new license. After that date, TSA will no longer accept the current version.

In a discussion regarding the upcoming new license program, Attorney Natalia Segermeister of the Price Benowitz Law Firm said, “Although there has been some controversy surrounding the new license requirements, with many people referring to them as a ‘national id’ instead of individual driver’s licenses, it is still important for people to make sure they follow the law as in order to avoid legal issues in the future.”

This column is written and sponsored by D.C. real estate agent and Edgewood resident Jessica Evans. Email her questions at  [email protected].

In part 2 of my “Buying a home in 2018” series, I will discuss financing — How to explore your loan options and why this is an important preliminary step of the homebuying process. If you missed part 1 of this series where I went over defining home purchase objectives, you can find it here.

Unless you are planning to purchase a home without financing, a nice luxury that many of us don’t have, then you are likely planning to get a mortgage. Figuring out how you plan to pay for the house that you want to buy is equally as important as figuring out which house you want to buy.

It is important that the loan option you choose is a good fit for your financial objectives. With interest rates expected to rise, refinancing isn’t likely to be an advantageous option and a mortgage will be a long term commitment to a payment plan. Exploring the full range of mortgage options will help to ensure that the payment plan you go with is the best fit for your personal financial situation.

Now you might be thinking that by exploring financing options I mean shopping around for the lowest interest rate, but this is not the case. Interest rates are just one factor and, in my opinion, by far not the most important factor in choosing a loan and lender for most buyers. For more on this topic, check out my column from last year on choosing a lender.

Step 1: Research lender recommendations. Ask friends or neighbors who they used as their lender and if they would highly recommend them. Ask your trusted real estate professional for their recommendations based on the type of loans you are considering. There are a lot of lenders out there, only consider those with raving fans. I strongly recommend using a direct local lender who will serve as your knowledgeable financing guide on your journey to homeownership. Here is my list of questions to ask when interviewing lenders. (more…)