After years of resistance to body-worn cameras, the trial balloon floated by the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office to initially equip every officer simply was too big to fly. The $6.1 million price tag was almost twice what the county has budgeted and would have outfitted not just officers in the field, but also officers in administrative services and headquarters.
About the only thing not included in the draft proposal from Utility Associates Inc. of Georgia were cellphone cup holders.
So the Bernalillo County Commission on Tuesday stuck with its budget and approved buying enough body-worn cameras and vehicle recording units for about 200 Sheriff’s Office personnel. The five-year deal could equip nearly every deputy assigned to the field, nearly.
BCSO wanted 380 body-worn camera setups, recording units for 444 vehicles, new uniforms to accommodate the devices, related technical support and more. The goal was to equip virtually everyone from Day One. In fact, the department initially wanted 450 body-worn units and 526 vehicle systems.
County leaders were right to stick with their budget, but cutting it off at $3.1 million may have been a little shortsighted. BCSO says there are currently 203 people assigned to field services, with 15 positions vacant. Moreover, a new state law mandates body-worn cameras for all law enforcement officers “who routinely interact with the public.” That should include the 25 non-sworn county service aides who might encounter trouble taking an accident report. The county should seek a way to include them, and also consider paying for a few spare units to cover breakage and emergencies.
This is a strong first step, but budgeting for an additional 50 or so units would give BCSO some wiggle room, help avoid chronic equipment shortages later and enhance BCSO’s ability to meet the requirements of the new state law.
This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
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November 12, 2020 at 02:02PM
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Editorial: County funding for police cameras is a few frames short - Albuquerque Journal
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