Behind the Badge
The Fullerton City Council voted Tuesday night to unanimously approve a request by Police Chief Dan Hughes to spend $650,000 to purchase 140 body cameras for his officers.
The approval means that police calls for service will now be recorded on video, which can be reviewed by the chief or other department personnel as needed.
“I’m pleased that the members of the City Council saw the value in these body cameras and approved our request,” Chief Hughes said. “It’s important that the public knows we want to be as transparent as possible and that we are willing to invest resources into our staff to ensure that’s the case.”
With the approval, Fullerton becomes the second law enforcement agency in the county to take this new approach to policing. Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada had a similar request approved by that council in early September.
The council approved a five-year contract with Taser International, who will supply the department with the cameras, and software and storage through Evidence.com. The contract also calls for replacing the cameras in 2 1/2 years and five years with newer versions. The cameras are the size of a smartphone and will replace the audio recorders officers use today.
The initial funds for purchase and the maintenance for the cameras comes from the department’s asset-seizure account.
