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Commission discusses a 50‑camera pilot and community‑policing general order; costs and timelines cited
Summary
Chief and commissioners said $250,000 has been secured to outfit 50 supervisors with cameras as a pilot; department officials said data storage and Department of Justice restrictions currently make equipping all officers cost‑prohibitive, and commissioners discussed the binding nature of the community‑policing general order.
Commissioners pressed the chief and station captain on two policy items: a pilot to equip supervisors with cameras and the status and effect of the department’s community‑policing general order.
The chief said the department has secured $250,000 to purchase cameras for 50 supervisors and that the pilot focuses on videotaping officers’ entries into residences to capture door‑step interactions. He said data storage is expensive — about $100,000 annually for 50 cameras — and estimated the cost to equip and store footage for all officers at roughly $2.4 million per year, a figure he attributed to current limits on cloud storage set by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Commissioners and community members also discussed the community‑policing general order. The chief clarified that general orders are binding departmental policy approved by the Police Commission and that officers are trained to follow them; citizens who believe an officer acted outside a general order can file a complaint with the OCC.
Commissioners did not adopt new policy at the meeting but described the pilot as an ongoing, budget‑driven step toward more widespread camera use and underscored that further decisions will depend on financing and negotiated procedures with labor and the Police Officers Association.
