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Ocean Shores police outline staffing gaps and equipment upgrades including new body cameras and license-plate readers
Summary
Police Chief Nikki Logan told the Ocean Shores Public Safety Committee the department faces two vacant sworn positions, plans to replace obsolete tasers and upgrade body-worn cameras, and is evaluating in‑car cameras and pole-mounted license-plate readers, with an estimated $318,000 price tag for tasers and body cams and a separate multi-year contract for vehicle cameras.
Police Chief Nikki Logan told the Ocean Shores Public Safety Committee on Nov. 18 that the department is working to fill two sworn vacancies and plans several equipment upgrades intended to improve investigations and officer accountability.
Chief Logan introduced newly hired Deputy Chief Carrie Vestal, who started this week and will replace Logan when she retires in March, and said a recruit is graduating from the academy tomorrow and will begin patrol training. She said the department still has two vacant sworn positions after a conditional offer fell through and that interviews are scheduled this week, with one lateral applicant among six invitees.
Logan said the department is preparing to replace tasers that are being phased out and upgrade body-worn cameras. She said the upgraded body cameras include transcription and searchable features that can translate languages, mark the portions of video where specific words were used, and produce a transcript for officer verification. "It will actually translate what the person is saying to us," Chief Logan said, and added the technology can speed complaint reviews by finding where allegedly offensive language appears in recordings.
Logan gave a total estimate of about $318,000 to purchase tasers and body cameras under a five-year service contract that includes maintenance and software upgrades. She said the city could either pay the full cost up front or spread payments annually and that she is discussing financing options with the mayor.
The department is also evaluating in-car cameras that use dual lenses and continuously scan license plates; Chief Logan said equipping all vehicles would be provided under a five-year contract and would cost "just over $50,000" per year. She described those cameras as able to notify officers when a plate matches an alert (Amber, Silver, or stolen-vehicle alerts) and to show pictures that aid investigations.
Logan also said Axon, the department's supplier, offered to install four pilot pole-mounted cameras (including license-plate readers) for free in downtown entry points and the roundabout so the city can test them before potentially adding six more cameras.
Chief Logan said she expects to request moving funds from the city's "three-tenths" tax reserve into the police equipment line to pay for these items, noting the city is under a temporary spending hold but has the funds available. She stressed that the purchases are proposals under consideration and that no formal purchasing decisions were made at the meeting.
