Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green presented an annual review of his department to the City Council during their meeting, Wednesday evening. Green discussed some of his departments needs when it comes to nailing down the specifics on his budget. Among the funds he’s expecting to request at budget time, is $10,000 to equip his officers with body cameras, and $12,000 to replace their aging stun guns, commonly referred to by their trade name, “Taser’s.”

Green says Taser is ending its support for older models of the company’s stun guns, which are only warranted for 5-years. Atlantic’s Tasers, which were purchased by the Cass County Attorney’s Office through the use of drug money received by the County, are eight-years old.

As for equipping his officers with body cameras, Green says they’ve already had three in use over the past year on a test basis, and while his staff are generally in favor of the devices, there are many legal hurdles – especially invasion of privacy — that need to be taken into consideration. The issues were brought up by attorneys, at a recent Police Chief’s convention. In addition to Invasion of Privacy, the angle of perspective, making sure the cameras are turned-on and that audio recorder is activated, are all issues that are in the court and will likely be for years, according to Green.

The cameras themselves typically run $400-to $800 a piece, or about $10,000 for a dozen of them for the first year. Additional expenses can include a download docking station, $12,000 for a server, $22,000 for five-years of software support, plus a license for “redaction.” That’s the blurring of faces of the persons not involved in an incident or crime. When the media requests video of an incident under the Freedom of Information Act, the process to redact images takes hours to accomplish because there are thousands of frames of video in a 10-minute recording.

Green says he thinks they can save on costs by using the department’s existing server to handle the digital camera data downloads. He says he hasn’t decided yet which type or brand of camera the department will purchase. He said also “We don’t need them today, but we will need them within the next year or so.” Green also told the Council his department received 7,000 calls over the past year, his officers made 227 arrests that resulted in people being sent to jail, 398 people were charged, 327 traffic citations were issued, 109 written warnings, as well as numerous verbal warnings for traffic and other offenses.

Green said he was proud of the way his officers and reserve officers stepped-up and helped out with the department’s children’s programs over the past year, as well. He says $13,000 was spent on programs that benefit children, such as Shop with a Cop, Family Dreams Christmas, and more.

Green thanked the community for its support during fundraising efforts for those programs, and reminds you they will begin fundraising efforts for their annual programs again, next month.