The resolution passed by the City Council on Sept. 14 includes a funding agreement that starts with assistance totaling $141,486 in county and state forfeiture funds, but then commits the city to an annual expenditure of $92,868 for four more years.
As described in a press release from the Union County Prosecutor's Office, eight of the county's 21 municipalities will take part in the pilot program.
The recorded data must be downloaded at the end of an officer's shift and will be saved in cloud storage.
The goal is a reduction in citizen complaints in light of a "broad rift" in police-civilian relations.
Overall costs for the eight-municipality pilot program fall under "a unique cost-sharing framework" as described in the press release:The program is being funded by a unique cost-sharing framework – for each participating department, the first-year average cost of approximately $1,350 per officer (approximately $750,000 total) is being covered by Prosecutor’s Office forfeiture funds, supplemented by $125,000 in forfeiture funds from the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, while the departments’ municipalities then are agreeing to multi-year contracts costing an average of $670 per officer, per year thereafter.
The present need to increase trust and transparency in police-civilian interactions was also noted in Monday's press release from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding a commitment of more than $23 million "to expand the use of body-worn cameras and explore their impact."
In December, Dr. Cedric Alexander, president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, endorsed the use of body cameras and explained other trust-building initiatives in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil
Rights and Human Rights.
The city's 5-year contract is with Taser, the company that has also produced electric weapons since 1993.
--Bernice
If people learned to obey the law and comply with police officers requests we wouldn't need to spend funds on body cams. They are not an occupying force that you have a right to defend yourself against if you are being arrested. If you have a complaint deal with it through the process.Think of how terrible our world would be without their protection. Why would anyone want to be a cop theses days - triple guessed for what they do and worried about assassination and assault around every corner. Oh wait - maybe body cams are good - a way to catch those attacking the police.
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