Dutchess to help police pay to add body cameras; See offer details, how much it may cost

Dutchess is pushing for each police agency in the county to adopt body worn camera technology, and offering to split the cost of starting the programs.

The county says it could end up spending roughly $775,000 on the program if every area agency opts in, based on an estimated assessment of each agency’s needs.

The program was officially offered to municipalities late last week through a letter sent by County Executive Marc Molinaro, in which each were given until Sept. 9 to join the program. The county would make a one-time payment to cover the startup costs and two years of a standard body camera package per unit ordered. However, to opt in, the municipalities must commit to a five-year contract with the system’s provider.

The offer comes as the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office is preparing to roll out its own body camera program, previously approved in the county’s 2022 budget, this fall.

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The initiative dates to the county’s Police Reform and Modernization plan devised in early 2021, which all police agencies were required to submit to the state in the wake of the social justice movement that gained steam in summer 2020. In it, the Sheriff’s Office announced an intention to outfit each of its officers of all ranks with a camera, the footage of which “will be stored to be made available to the District Attorney, Judicial system or the public.”

Acting Sheriff Kirk Imperati said the additional tool is important for transparency and will “help build trust” with the community.

“I think it’s an officer safety issue, one, and a public safety issue, two,” he said. “We’re just happy that it’s finally coming to fruition.”

The county plan also comes in a year in which local police agencies have been involved with two incidents in which officers struck civilians with gunfire, once in Fishkill in February and a fatal incident in Hyde Park in April. Neither agency has body cameras, though in both incidents assisting state police officers did.

The City of Poughkeepsie, City of Beacon and Village of Wappingers Falls are among the few agencies in Dutchess that use body cameras; Fishkill earlier this year announced it is in line to receive a $600,000 federal grant to implement the technology.

What the county is offering

Molinaro in his letter dated Aug. 12 addressed to mayors, town supervisors and police chiefs, introduced a “collaborative joint purchase” of body cameras, pending the approval of the Legislature in October after a tally of expenses is finalized.

The county is offering to pay each agency $2,000 in startup costs and $2,800 per body camera unit ordered which, Molinaro wrote “equates to the cost of two years of a standard (body worn camera) package which included camera, software, hardware, storage and other essential features.” The technology provider offers “highly customized” packages, which may make the annual cost "vary widely" for each municipality, County Executive’s Office spokesperson Colleen Pillus said. The amount the county would give to the agency would not change.

According to Molinaro’s letter, each agency would receiving a 3% discount with the provider as part of the group purchase, and dashboard cameras are also available. He noted “using a single vendor provides immense time and cost savings related to evidence storage and sharing.”

Molinaro’s office did not say if it set a cap on how many units an agency could order, but the county Emergency Response Division “has worked with each municipality to assess their estimated (camera) needs.”

To take part, agencies are required to submit an estimated number of units needed to the county by Sept. 9, enter into an intermunicipal agreement with the county by Dec. 15, and show the county “a fully executed five-year agreement” with the provider, effective Jan. 1, by Dec. 15.

While the county would be paying enough to cover two years of a standard unit, the agency would be on the hook for the other three, with an estimated standard cost of $1,400 per unit, per year, before any upgrades.

Molinaro's office said the City of Poughkeepsie was the only agency that had opted-in as of Thursday evening, though they believe others will, based on “preliminary discussions.”

The city had already implemented a camera program in January 2020. Police Chief Thomas Pape said it is renewing and updating its current contract, maintaining its current 65 body camera units and "increasing our video storage capabilities," with help from the partnership with the county. "The storage and management of video evidence can get costly," he noted.

Sheriff’s Office program beginning

Meanwhile, Imperati said the Sheriff’s Office would be turning on their cameras in October, if not September.

While the department’s ranks include 115 full-time deputy sheriffs, he said the 70 cameras the office is receiving is enough to allow each of them to have a unit for every shift. That will include the 12 school resource officers serving in six area school districts and Dutchess BOCES this academic year.

They will be required to have them running during any interaction with the public. While the modernization plan noted there would be “severe consequences for intentional violations” of that policy, Imperati said the severity of that discipline would be dictated by the situation.

The department is also receiving 32 cameras for corrections officers.

“Transparency, community outreach, accountability, public safety, and training make up the foundation of our office’s success,” Imperati said in the county release, “and we look forward to taking this next step in modernizing our organization.”

Mike Benischek: 845-437-4722, mbenisch@poughkeepsiejournal.com

This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Dutchess to split police body camera expansion cost in local agencies