BRECKSVILLE, Ohio -- The city for the first time will equip its Police Department with body cameras.
Last week, City Council authorized the administration to apply for a $115,200 state grant that would help pay for the devices.
The total estimated cost for 31 body cameras -- one for each police officer in the department -- is $30,845, according to Rebecca Riser, the city’s director of purchasing. Each camera costs $995.
That amount doesn’t include the costs of additional equipment and services, including devices to charge the cameras and download videos, warranties, training, system setup and an extra two years of video storage.
The city plans to buy the camera system from Chagrin Valley Dispatch -- the regional emergency dispatch system for more than 30 Greater Cleveland municipalities, including Brecksville.
When asked why Brecksville was now buying body cameras for police, Mayor Jerry Hruby said it was “the trend toward their use and the obvious benefit being demonstrated.”
Strongsville and North Royalton purchased police body cameras for the first time in 2020. Broadview Heights followed suit in 2021.
“We believe that body-worn cameras are going to help us collect video evidence in criminal cases,” Police Chief Stanton Korinek told council Sept 6.
“We also believe it’s going to protect our officers if any complaints are brought against them,” Korinek said. “We also believe it’s going to bring transparency to our interactions with the public.”
Until now, Breckville police officers were permitted to carry body cameras at their own expense. Police cruisers have been equipped with dashboard cameras for more than a decade, Hruby said.
“(The dashboard cameras) have been essential in convicting people of crimes, especially traffic crimes,” Korinek told council last week.
“It’s exonerated officers numerous times when complaints have come against them. And in rare occurrences, it has allowed us to help an officer get better at his job.”
The grant for the body cameras would come from the Ohio Body-Worn Camera Grant Program, created in June 2021 by the Ohio General Assembly. The Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services is administering the program.
“If we don’t get the full funding, we can scale it back and still allow every officer to have a camera,” Korinek told council.
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