City Council recently approved the purchase of 100 cameras from Axon at the cost of $365,326, and will make annual payments of $72,515 over the next five years. The first year's payment will be covered by a state of Ohio grant, and Public Safety Director Scott Scrimizzi said they'll re-apply for another grant to help further pay for the policing tool.
"We have evaluated several different brands of body-worn cameras for the police department," said Scrimizzi, adding they went with Axon because "they are the industry leader."
Hamilton Police Chief Craig Bucheit said body-worn cameras "are invaluable as a training tool and offer huge benefits by providing key evidence in criminal prosecutions."
"They also offer the police and community the best opportunity to capture a clear and accurate account of policing encounters," he said. "Everyone I've talked with, both officers and citizens alike, see significant value in that."
Bucheit said they should have the cameras in about 90 days.
Not all Butler County police agencies have body-worn cameras, though several either have them or plan to purchase them.
Fairfield Police Department began using body-worn cameras in 2016 as a pilot project, and signed a five-year contract in 2017. Police Chief Steve Maynard said they just signed a second five-year contract.
The chief said there is a lot of work to maintain body-worn cameras, especially with the back-end of maintaining the records cameras create.
"It's not as simple as throwing them on your chest and hitting the record button," Maynard said. "You're recreating not only a public record, but you're creating videos that are going to be used in the court system. There's a lot of prep work."
Maynard said there are certain things that are not a public record that may be on the video and must be redacted, such as a Social Security Number or the interior of a private residence (though there are some exceptions).
They are a tool that also aids in transparency to the public, especially in today's age where people want to see video evidence, he said. The chief said the work to have the cameras has been worth the cost, especially since they've helped investigate two officer-involved shootings in the city of nearly 45,000. The officers involved in the 2018 and 2020 shooting incidents were cleared.
"I think that because they were captured on body cameras and they were readily available to the public to see that what took place and the way we said the events unfolded were corroborated by the body cam videos," Maynard said.
But body cameras do not capture everything, he said.
"We got lucky in both our incidents in that the video was very graphic and it showed an accurate depiction of the scene as it unfolded in front of the officers," the chief said.
The Monroe and Fairfield Twp. police departments also have body-worn cameras, and officials from the agencies agreed they are worth the investment. Monroe recently renewed its Axon contract, said Chief Robert Buchanan.
Butler County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer said the agency is "always looking at technology and what can make the job better" but added body cameras "cut both ways sometimes."
They don't capture everything, just as Maynard said, but Dwyer said they do help with investigations and prosecution.
Dwyer said body-worn cameras are "a huge cost, not only with equipment but with the response to public requests. There are a lot of factors that come into play. And managing the data is pretty difficult."
The sheriff's office was not successful in a previous state grant request, but the Butler County Commission on Thursday OK'd the agency to again seek state funding to assist with the purchase. Dwyer said they're looking at around 100 cameras, but have not set aside the finances.
Middletown Police Chief David Birk said his department also continues to search for funding to purchase body cameras, technology, and support staff.
He had applied for a $200,000 grant but was rejected. He said the state is adding grants so he hopes Middletown will be awarded one soon.
The $200,000 would cover the cost of purchasing 80 cameras, the storage space and one employee to monitor the cameras.
Birk said he's "100%" behind the use of body cameras because what was thought to "police the police" has mostly proven to exonerate officers of any wrongdoing.
Lt. Lara Fening, who has worked for the Oxford Police Department for 26 years, called body cameras "remarkable tools" because they can clarify citizen complaints.
But, she said, sometimes when "it's hitting the fan," it's a very difficult adjustment for officers to turn on their cameras.
"Sometimes," she said, "priorities are preservation of life."
She said Oxford signed a contract for body cameras in 2017 and the 28 cameras cost about $35,000 a year and most of the cost is for data storage. She said the department must keep all data for 366 days because the Police Review Commission has up to one year to file any complaints.
© 2022 the Journal-News (Hamilton, Ohio). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
