Lt. Joseph Baca of the Snowflake-Taylor Police Department has been testing a personal body camera, and at the May 10 Snowflake Town Council meeting, he was present to request approval to purchase eight more cameras for the department.
STPD has been approved to receive $5,000 in Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) funds to be used for law enforcement purposes, and the body cameras will qualify for that money.
“RICO funds are generated by law enforcement activities that result in asset forfeiture proceedings” explained Lt. Baca. “Once forfeited, proceeds are deposited into the county RICO funds, and are expended in accordance with state and federal laws and guidelines.”
The price of the cameras is $649 each for a total of $5,751.76, and would allow eight patrol officers to have a body camera to use during police contact to capture video evidence that could prove invaluable in prosecuting criminal and civil cases in courts, explained Lt. Baca.
He noted that cameras could be used as a training tool for officers, who could review calls and evaluate they were handled.
Lt. Baca explained that the videos will be downloaded to a computer that has the appropriate program, but information cannot be transferred anywhere else, and information on the cameras cannot be edited or deleted. He said that presently they have two car-mounted cameras but they cost $2,000 each and are stationary. The body camera is small and will be mounted on the officer’s uniform.
“It’s great for the liability of the town, as well” said Councilman Larry Matyas. “When somebody makes a charge against the police department, they are able to go back and see what happened. I think it’s very valuable.”
Lt. Baca asked that the town pay $751.76 of the cameras’ cost, the portion not covered by the RICO grant.
A motion to approve the purchase of body cameras for STPD officers that will be funded with RICO money in the amount of $5,000 and $751.76 from the town budget was unanimously approved.
Lt. Baca said that in the future they would like to purchase six more cameras at a cost of $4,313.82.
In other business, the council unanimously approved paying approximately $22,660 to relocate the fiber optic and copper lines to accommodate the highway crossing for the Southern Solution. Frontier will do its own work on the relocations and has given an approximate cost. As part of a grant, $35,000 was budgeted for relocation of the lines.
The council discussed a Town Clean Up Day and asked staff to come up with a plan and present it at a later date. Mark Williams was present representing Larsen Waste. He explained there are different options regarding the clean up day, stating, “We’re really here to do whatever would be beneficial to the town.”
