The Kenner Police Department is poised to equip each of its sworn officers with body-worn cameras by 2023, after the City Council signed off on a 10-year, $5.5 million contract for the technology and other equipment.
“I think we’re one of the last agencies in Jefferson Parish to do this,” Police Chief Keith Conley told council members last month. “This is the direction that everybody else is going in. I think it adds another level of transparency.”
The soon-to-be-inked contract with Axon Enterprises Inc. – formerly TASER International – also includes new Tasers for each of Kenner’s roughly 140 sworn officers; camera systems for 20 police cruisers; goggles for virtual training exercises; and recording equipment for an interview room.
Growing trend
Kenner is among a wave of local law enforcement agencies to adopt the technology in recent months after years of holding out.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office was the largest law enforcement agency in Louisiana without the technology, until it began equipping its officers and patrol units with cameras in mid-December. Months later, JPSO fired and arrested two of its deputies on charges of manslaughter after reviewing video footage of them fatally shooting a Marrero man.
Two officers fired, booked with manslaughter
Until now, the data costs associated with properly storing the footage was “prohibitive” for Kenner, Conley said. But as the technology has proliferated, it’s become more affordable for Louisiana’s sixth most populous city.
There were also political hurdles, according to Kenner Mayor Michael Glaser, who took over in July after eight years as Kenner’s police chief. He said he looked into the technology in 2020, but the previous administration, led by then-Mayor Ben Zahn, said there was no money in the budget.
“There is money for it if you look into it,” Glaser said.
Technology upgrades
The technology will cost Kenner about $500,000 annually over the next decade. And the agreement includes several hardware upgrades, so “if there’s a newer model that comes out, we get the newer model,” said Kenner Police Department Sgt. Ethan Hales.
The cameras come equipped with Bluetooth technology that automatically starts recording once an officer activates their overhead lights or draws their firearm or Taser. And if for some reason an officer isn’t responding to dispatch, the department can dial into their body-worn camera to determine their GPS coordinates.
The footage will be securely stored online – at Evidence.com – and supervisors will be able to randomly audit the footage to review officer behavior, Hales said.
As part of the package of technology, Kenner will also get several goggles for virtual training exercises, allowing officers to practice “shoot, don’t shoot” exercises, and even experience what’s it like to be someone going through a schizophrenic episode “as they’re seeing it,” Hales said.
Long a holdout, Lopinto said Sheriff's Office could not afford the technology until now
'No brainer'
The Kenner Police Department has been in touch with officials at the Gretna Police Department, which adopted body-worn cameras last year, for tips on rolling out the technology.
Conley said he hopes the cameras will help save taxpayer dollars by resolving complaints against officers more quickly. “It’s right there in black or white. It either happened or it didn’t,” Conley said.
The contract between Kenner and Axon hasn’t yet been executed, Conley said. But he anticipates the technology will be ready for deployment by the start of 2023.
“I think this is a no-brainer,” said Kenner Council member George Branigan at the July 22 meeting, echoing similar praise from his colleagues. “We have to have this technology to move forward."
CORRECTION: Earlier versions of this article misspelled Ethan Hales' last name.
