KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Equipment for Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s deputies will soon be receiving an overhaul, County Undersheriff James VanDyken announced Tuesday.
During a virtual meeting, VanDyken broke down the equipment replacement plan for the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners, explaining why new equipment, such as body cameras, are needed. The plan also calls for 60 new tasers and other supportive equipment.
According to VanDyken, the department has been testing out body cameras from different brands since 2016. The department is looking to buy 60 Axon-brand body cameras, which were chosen because of their available features.
Those features include automatic activation of the body camera when a taser is drawn or activated, automatic activation when a firearm is drawn or a gunshot is detected, and the ability to remotely view the video live no matter where the officer is during a potentially life-threatening event.
The plan also includes three upgrades to the cameras over a five-year period.
“When the camera that we have now becomes outdated, or a better camera gets upgraded, we get those as part of the package,” VanDyken said. “That is very important because technology changes quickly, and we want to have the most current product available.”
Data storage for the camera footage would be in a cloud-based format, VanDyken said. This means that no additional processes, such as burning a DVD, would be required.
“The cloud-based storage keeps that for basically as long as we want it,” VanDyken said. “If it’s a major event or an event that we need to completely hold on to, we would put it on a DVD or storage device and place it in our evidence room, so we would have it indefinitely.”
Additionally, VanDyken said their vehicle dash cameras need to be updated, and haven’t been since 2008. He said that the outdated technology is expensive to maintain.
Body cameras are also more helpful because they record from the officer uniform when activated.
“If you have the motor vehicle recording and you get a distance away from the vehicle, or you’re not in front of the vehicle, you don’t capture the event,” VanDyken said.
Due to the expensive cost, dash cameras are not going to be replaced for now.
“We are going to continue to leave the vehicle cameras in place at this point,” VanDyken said. “The majority of them are working, but the problem is we got to the point where three quarters of the fleet had cameras, but the other quarter did not. It’s hard to explain, when an event occurs, why this deputy had a working camera and this deputy did not. We’re going to try to continue as is until that system is completely beyond repair.”
He added that the in-vehicle dash camera system is obsolete, and that the department has even gone as far as purchasing replacement parts off eBay.
Commissioner Stephanie Moore spoke favorably of the plan.
“I think this is a big step forward in building trust with the community, especially for those who have had encounters with law enforcement where the view was different in terms of what happened, which also played a big role in the outcome,” Moore said. “I think with the outcry of the community, particularly over the last couple of months, you all listening and responding in this manner to bring forth this technology shows that there is some intention here to do better work on behalf of all of our community.”
She added that it’s a good move for accountability and transparency.
Commissioner Julie Rogers also praised the department for figuring out how to fund the project, which was previously in question.
“Thank you to the Sheriff’s department, because I recognize it’s quite a stretch for you, and I appreciate you re-prioritizing, listening to that call from the community to re-prioritize your budget,” Rogers said. “There’s not any ask from the general fund, which is already stretched very thin, so thank you very much for figuring out a way and working with administration.”
In total, the funding would cost $825,133 over five years, which the department will be covering out of their budget. They will also be requesting a $65,000 grant from the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority (MMRMA). One position at the department may be eliminated to help cover costs as well.
Sheriff Richard Fuller is expected to make a statement on the matter next week, according to VanDyken.
During that same meeting, Kalamazoo County Commissioners also approved the new 2021 budget. More details can be found here.
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