After months of discussions and negotiations, the Metro Council is set to vote this evening on an ordinance that would require the Baton Rouge Police Department to outfit its patrol officers with body cameras by the start of next year.
Metro Councilwoman C. Denise Marcelle, author of the ordinance, has been pursuing the body cameras since last fall. She previously deferred the ordinance in April as conversations with the department have progressed, but says she’s confident they’ve found common ground with the ordinance that will be taken up tonight.
“This makes the body cameras a part of the uniform, just like a gun is and everything else,” Marcelle says. “They’re absolutely for it. I’ve gotten all the info from the chief (Carl Dabadie). They’ve looked at their policies and they’re working on getting it lined up.”
While the department is on board with the idea of equipping officers with body cameras, says spokesman Lt. Johnny Dunnam, there are some concerns about the total cost and implementation timeline.
“Everyone is in agreement that this is something we all want to do, but we also want to make sure we are going to be getting the best bank for our buck, because it’s not going to be cheap,” Dunnam says. “So, we would prefer we not have a time limit.”
The department should be receiving its first 100 body cameras in the coming weeks. The order has been placed—at a total cost of about $100,000—and they’re just awaiting delivery, Dunnam says. Once they’ve arrived, the department will begin a trial period of implementation.
“We may try them out and may decided this is not what we want, and then we’ll have to start looking at other vendors,” Dunnam said. “That’s the concern with the time limit. We want to make sure we’re not rushed into anything and that we get the right equipment that’s the most effective.”
Marcelle says that while her ordinance calls for implementation by January, she’s willing to work with the department on the timeline.
“Well, the January date is there so they could work it into their budget for next year, but I’m giving them until July to actually get it all done,” she says.
Department officials have estimated outfitting all of its roughly 660 officers with body cameras and purchasing the necessary servers to store and analyze the data they collect could cost anywhere between $1 million and $2 million, Dunnam says. The department has applied for a federal grant of $700,000 for body cameras, but it is still awaiting a decision.
The council convenes at 4 p.m. on the third floor of City Hall, 222 St. Louis St.
Also this evening, the council will take up a resolution to place on the Oct. 24 ballot a renewal of the dedicated property tax for the East Baton Rouge Parish Library System that would raise property taxes from 10.78 mills to 11.1 mills. At least five Metro Council members previously have told Daily Report they likely will join their colleagues John Delgado and Ryan Heck in rejecting the request.
—Steve Sanoski
