East Dundee is set to be one of the latest towns to outfit its police force with body cameras.
Police Chief Terry Mee said the devices have been ordered.
“We’ll be putting them into service at some point and time during the next fiscal year,” he said.
After testing a few different brands, police officials approved a five-year agreement with Taser International for the devices, which also allows for the use of Taser International’s Evidence.com to store the videos.
“I think it’s a state-of-the-art need and a state-of-the-profession need,” Mee said. “Hopefully it will provide some additional information that can be helpful in any number of ways to support criminal prosecutions, support issues of training and tactics, and so on.”
The department budgeted $21,160 for the first year of the plan. But Mee noted the costs could go beyond that money to purchase the devices themselves.
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“The unknowns right now are going to be the man hours, the labor times answering (Freedom of Information Act requests) and other subpoenaed requests for body camera footage, so that’s going to be problematic for everyone,” Mee said.
He added that while those are certainly cause for concern, “I believe the need for the body cameras overrides that concern.”
“Hopefully, body camera use will promote community relations, contribute to officer safety, and contribute to positive interaction with the public,” he said.
Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.