The Columbia Board of Aldermen will soon get a look at a body camera system for police officers.
Police Chief Michael Kelly spoke to the board earlier this month about various systems and a demonstration may be conducted as soon as the board’s meeting on Tuesday.
The one-time expense would be about $11,000 for eight cameras and software. The city would store the videos on its own servers, and Kelly said he prefers a system where the officers activate the camera to start recording rather than running continually.
During previous meetings, Ward 3 Alderwoman Anna Evans had inquired about equipping officers with cameras for the safety of all concerned, and Kelly said he’s getting quotes from Watch Guard, which services the Hattiesburg Police Department.
“I’ve used the Watch Guard cameras before, and they’ve got great custumer service,” he said. “The best thing I like about it is we can store the video here on our own servers, and we don’t have to pay the yearly fees that cost an arm and a leg. We’re in the process of writing a policy for the cameras.”
Evans asked if you have to manually turn it on or if it starts automatically. Kelly said it depends on the model and that the cameras have the ability to record nine straight hours.
“There are concerns with automatic cameras because the systems are catching them using the bathroom and things like that. The cameras were recording every bit of their day. I had these cameras and I found out that there were departments getting sued when I went to the chief’s conference,” he said. “Watch Guard updated their software and allowed me to turn that feature off. The officer had to activate the camera to record. I’m not in favor of just recording all the time.”
Evans said she had seen a system that activated when an officer stepped out of a patrol car.
“You’re talking a lot of money when you get into that system,” Kelly said. “The administrator sets the parameters as to when the camera comes on. If we had the money to buy something like that, you don’t get any better. If I want to see what an officer is up to right then, I can. It’s incredible, but it is very expensive to have that kind.”
Kelly said he understood the concern about the use of the cameras.
“We want to make sure they are rolling,” he said. “We understand that it may not work once. But if you don’t record several times, you’d be in violation of departmental policy.”
Kelly said the only question was how to pay for the cameras.
“It’s going to cost us a little over $11,000 for eight cameras and all the software,” he said. “It’s a one-time purchase. We own the software then. We have to provide our own video storage. We don’t have to save all those files. If we have somebody changing a flat tire or asking for directions, we don’t need to see those. If it is a non-event call, we can purge it. If it’s a traffic stop call, we may want to keep it until 30 days after the court date. If it’s a felony, we’ll put it on the drive and keep it forever. It could come up at anytime. All the safeguards will be written into the policy. That video would be treated as evidence.”
Kelly said the eight cameras would provide enough for day shift and night shift to use. When an officer comes in and puts the camera on the charger, it dumps all the files into the server.
The board will adopt a policy for the camera use along with the purchase. The board will also work to obtain more quotes from other companies to analyze the units.
The board also voted to accept a move from patrol to reserve for Sgt. Davy Bass, who has accepted another job out of law enforcement, and to hire Jeni Southerland part-time to help with grant and accreditation work.
