Fayetteville Council approves new police body cams for $499,000 —
The Fayetteville City Council on Oct. 18 approved the recommendations of a recent pay and job classification study and a camera system for police.
The study results recommended that 114 employees receive a salary adjustment totaling $245,000, an amount already included in the budget adopted during the summer.
The pay scale, job classifications and staffing study findings by consultant Evergreen Solutions noted that the city’s “pay structure is below that of our peers.”
The study results also indicated that the finance department was overstaffed by four employees, with the adjustment for that finding having already been addressed by the retirement of three part-time employees and by a recently vacated job position of another being frozen.
The study found that the public works department is understaffed by two positions. The current budget includes funds to hire two part-time staff for the department.
The council on Oct. 18 also approved the purchase of a new camera system for the police department. The preferred bid totaled $499,000 over five years.
Chief Scott Gray at a previous work session said the bid by Pro Logic ITS would include replacement of approximately 42 body cameras, 38 patrol unit cameras and two interview room cameras and would provide the best total solution for video evidence.
Gray in a Sept. 28 letter said the police department’s body-worn cameras (BWC) were purchased in 2013 and are a first generation system.
“The system and technology have become obsolete and we are required to keep the video footage on a server at the police department. The company that we purchased the original system from is no longer in the BWC business,” Gray said.
“The interview room video equipment was purchased in 2004 and we are required to house the footage on a server at the police department. None of our video systems currently sync to each other making it difficult to tie video evidence together,” Gray added.
Gray said the current proposal provides for a total video solution. This means that the system is Cloud-based (no server on premise) and links in-car, BWC and evidence room video evidence to each other. Having the capability to link videos together will result in less time in preparing for court and it will decrease the number of personnel that are involved in the process of retrieving video evidence. Our city court system will have access to video evidence without having to ask evidence custodians for copies of incidents prior to court. They will have access to video evidence before and during court hearings, Gray said.
