As soon as their training is complete, all Crown Point police officers will be outfitted with body cameras, but requests by citizens to retrieve video footage will require a $150 fee.
While the body cameras could bring greater transparency to police officers’ interaction with the public, providing the video footage can be a labor-intensive process. So, the Crown Point City Council’s establishment of a $150 fee per request is justifiable, according to Crown Point Police Chief Ryan Patrick.
Patrick explained that the body cam footage, as a matter of privacy and evidentiary considerations, must first be reviewed by an officer trained to redact sensitive and private images, such as those involving juveniles, license plates and potentially innocent bystanders. The fee is based on what other municipal police departments charge, Patrick said, and that the cost would extend to Freedom of Information Act requests made by members of the press.
For example, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department charges $50 for less than 30 minutes of video, $100 for 30-60 minutes of video, and $150 for a video longer than one hour. The Crown Point City Council has established a single, uniform fee, which is subject to approval by the city’s Board of Works.
Crown Point recently took possession of 52 body cams along with 44 stun guns in a deal with Scottsdale, Arizona-based Axon. Bundling the order for body cams and stun guns with Axon is saving the city money, Patrick said, with unlimited digital storage included to accommodate the large amount of video to be collected and stored.
The agreement with Axon is $664,617, with new body cams arriving every two years. Axon offered an exchange program for existing stun guns, and is providing police officers with the required training on the body cams and stun guns along with instructions on how to redact sensitive video.
Patrick believes the police officers are enthusiastic about the body cams and that the public will appreciate them as well.
“Our officers understand that body cams are part of their regular equipment now and have wanted them for investigative purposes,” he said. “They can go back learn and know exactly what was said and done and what actions were taken.”
Jim Masters is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
