BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Buffalo Police Department released seven body cam videos on its Youtube page. The videos show officers working through treacherous conditions to rescue community members during the blizzard.
Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said he wanted people to have an inside look at what those officers went through during those difficult days.
"I need help," one woman shouted in the body cam video.
Through whipping winds and whiteout conditions, each BPD video shows officers battling through the worst of the blizzard while focusing on one goal: saving lives.
"Oh my god," one officer shouted as he stepped out of his car and into the whiteout conditions.
Watching through nearly an hour's worth of footage, Mayor Byron Brown said on Friday he is proud of those officers.
"This footage really shows how much our Buffalo Police officers care about the community," Brown said.
After pushing through 36 hours of zero visibility, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia called his officers heroes.
"I'm just absolutely in awe of the work that our officers did," he said on Friday.
"I've been having chest pains," one woman said to an officer.
One 20-minute video shows the courageous efforts by officers to bring a woman in pain to Buffalo General Hospital, but on the way, the police car got stuck in the snow.
"We gotta walk," the officer said to another officer.
"We'll be walking this female all the way to Buff Gen," the officer said to dispatch.
After trekking through powerful wind gusts and blinding snow, they finally made it.
"We're right here," the officer said to the woman.
"That's just the tip of the iceberg. There are literally dozens of dozens of dozens of stories of police officers doing heroic things," Brown said.
Gramaglia said what his officers did was remarkable.
"Just going out walking that, they put their life at risk and they were doing that just to save others," he added.
Gramaglia said he does not think anyone could have been properly equipped for this blizzard. He mentioned how National Guard trucks got stuck as well as snow plows. He said they are looking at UTVs, even though he said the department's AWD vehicles get officers through the snow.