Yesterday, officials with the Waco police department presented their proposal for implementing body-cameras for the PD. This included a look at the benefits of such a system, a ballpark estimate of how much it might cost and what the department is looking for in a consultant to assist with the process.
Greater transparency, holding both officers and citizens accountable, and an unbiased visual documentation. According to department officials, these are just some of the benefits of equipping the Waco police department with a body-camera system.
In a presentation to the City Council, Assistant Police Chief Ryan Holt, said Waco PD has had dashboard-cameras in vehicles since the early 2000s and has more recently taken a closer look at how body-cameras have helped other departments across the nation.
“In the United States there have been a number of agencies that have adopted body-worn cameras in the last 36 months," Holt said. "Some of the early adopters have been in response to critical incidents that have occurred in public eye. However, we chose to monitor the progression of the systems, for their technology, as the chief said, for the technology and also some of the privacy issues to have fallen out of the courts.”
The set-up used will go beyond much more than a body-worn camera. Holt added that evaluating these systems would include looking at overall maintenance, audio and video quality, how footage will be downloaded and where all that data will be stored. The cost of implementing such a system, could total $540,000, which includes purchasing 250 cameras, server components, and maintenance fees. There’s also a slightly less expensive leasing option and the ability to lease some cameras, while purchasing others.
Officials say these are ballpark estimates. The price and components involved are all apart of what a consultant will help the department to evaluate. James Brown is Director of the City's IT department. He said from an IT perspective there’s plenty to take into consideration.
"We want to look at the storage piece of it. From our perspective that's a very important piece of it. Where do we store this data? How do we retrieve it? How do we protect it? How do we comply with the city's policies?" Brown asked.
Waco City Council asked about potential issues, including battery life. They also inquired about the number of vendors who provide body-camera equipment and how this system might be integrated with the What Works Cities project that seeks to improve open data access. PD officials are now working to find a consultant and aim to have a preliminary selection done by spring 2016.