Body Cameras Are Allowed To Implement Body Cameras

Police departments elect to fully-implement body cameras

A number of questionable incidents involving police departments and the arrest or detainment of citizens since 2013 have had civil rights groups, communities, and police departments alike calling for officers to wear body cameras.

But high-profile events, garnering national news coverage are not the only reasons to implement body-worn camera programs in local police departments, and both Round Rock and Pflugerville police departments have been testing out different body cameras over the last year to find out if they are the right fit for them.

What they did

Both departments started out small. A few cameras were assigned to officers in their respective animal control departments to test

“We had officers try them out during their regular shift. Officers gave feedback on the body cameras themselves. We went through the video once the downloaded to look at the quality.”

In the end, Pflugerville police department found that cameras from Taser International, Inc. best fit their needs, while Round Rock police department chose cameras from L3.

Cost

Beside function and video quality, cost was near the top of the list when considering the cameras.

The Pflugerville city council, at the recommendation of Police Chief Charles Hooker, entered into a five year contract with Taser International, Inc.

To outfit all of Pflugerville police department’s 106 officers, it will cost the city $262,000 this first year of the contract, followed by four subsequent years at a rate of $140,000, according to Chief Hooker’s presentation to city council Aug. 9.

Round Rock chose L3 body cameras for its 163 officers, as that brand of camera is also found in the department’s patrol units, which will save the city money in the long

The current in-car video system requires officers to return to the police department and hoop up to an access point whenever they need to download video from their dashboard-mounted cameras. Depending on the amount of video, it can take up to 30 minutes to download, taking officers off of the streets, according to Commander Rosenbusch.

By installing the in-car router, it effectively turns the patrol vehicle into a wireless hotspot where dash-cam video can be continually downloaded and automatically categorized in department storage. A docking station for the body camera will also enable officers to download video from the body camera while on-the-go, making multiple trips to the station to download obsolete as it will happen wirelessly.

The total cost for the department’s investment will run the city of Round Rock $616,000.

That cost is spread over two years with $402,000 coming from the FY 2015-2016 budget and $214,000 coming from the FY 2016-2017 budget that was approved last month. The city will also receive $75,000 in state