News

By Jane Smith
    
    Twenty city police officers will soon sport body cameras in a pilot program.
    The Delray Beach City Commission approved spending $34,260 for 20 Tasers, 20 body cameras and cloud storage of the cameras’ audio/video.
    The Tasers will be upgraded every five years and the cameras will be upgraded every 30 months, Andrew Mellen, the company rep, told commissioners on April 19. He called it a “worry-free contract.”
    The goal is to have 20 officers wearing the body cameras by June, Police Chief Jeff Goldman said. “Training is done in one to three days,” he said. “The officers are trained on care for the equipment, use, and use of the evidence.com cloud server that stores the audio/video.”
    At the commission meeting, Goldman said the officers will have to document why they shut off the cameras. He gave these examples: hospitals, juvenile halls and other areas where they have privacy concerns.
    “When the officer pulls out the Taser, the camera will go on,” Goldman said. The Police Department is testing where to mount the cameras on the body.
     “We realize this is coming,” said Gary Ferreri, the lead police union rep. “The chief allowed us to be part of the process in writing the regulations.” The regulations were still with the union’s legal team at press time.
    Vice Mayor Al Jacquet, who recommended the body cameras months ago, said, “Today is a great day for our city. It’s better to be ahead of it. … I also applaud the union.”
    For the next budget year that begins in October, Goldman told commissioners he will request 75 more body cameras, Tasers and cloud storage space for the videos.
    The pilot program will run through the summer, Goldman said. He also said each officer wearing a body camera will rate it on factors including ease of use, battery time and effectiveness.