Heidi Van Antwerp, West Carrollton spokesman, said the cost covers everything from the cameras and software to the services and data storage involved with the cameras.
Police chief Doug Woodard said he and other members of the West Carrollton police department, including records clerks, officers, supervisors and civilian workers, tested out six body cameras, in a four to five month period in 2020. The Utility, Inc. camera system was best, he said.
“One company stood out above the other six, as far as the choice for the department for body worn camera program,” he said during the city council meeting on Tuesday, naming Utility, Inc.
Because of that testing period, Woodard asked council to waive the bidding process and go with the company they’d picked. Council agreed.
According to a memo that Woodard sent to city manager Brad Townsend, the body cameras could be used as a training tool, to gather evidence and as evidence in case of a potential lawsuit. Woodard said he also believed policing in general is moving toward requiring body cameras.
Woodard also noted broad support among the public for body cameras in the memo, citing surveys from USA Today and two 2015 polls from the Wisconsin Professional Police Association.
However, there are limitations to the use of body cameras, Woodard said in the memo. He noted the cameras will only record in two dimensions, while events happen in three dimensions. The cameras also cannot “see” everything, he said.
Woodard said the body cameras would be helpful in many cases.
“Honestly the way I look at that is it just gives us one more tool that we can use to support the officers’ words and actions,” Woodard said.
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