West Dundee to consider police body camera program

With a goal of increasing safety and strengthening public trust, West Dundee could become the next suburban police department to equip its officers with body cameras.

The village board on Monday is expected to consider a five-year, $136,502 contract with Arizona-based Axon Enterprise Inc. The deal would provide each of the department's 20 officers with a body camera, as well as a Taser that automatically activates video recording when removed from its holster, interim Chief Tony Gorski said.

"We have those things on, and everybody behaves better," he said. "It's a win-win situation."

Department officials have spent the past few years researching products, hoping to find the most efficient yet cost-effective technology for recording and storing footage, Gorski said. He credited the neighboring Elgin Police Department for doing much of the legwork to review manufacturers and test brands before settling on Axon more than two years ago.

After trying out a handful of cameras provided by the company, West Dundee police officials presented them to the village board last month and requested permission to roll out the program departmentwide.

"Videographic evidence is key in investigating not only crimes that are committed within the community, but also claims by residents of treatment by officers," Village President Chris Nelson said. "I think it's an appropriate next step in police work."

The Axon contract in particular addresses a handful of trustees' concerns over the potential for hidden costs or issues associated with retaining footage, he said.

The program offers unlimited storage, redaction and editing capabilities for Freedom of Information purposes, and the ability to sync cameras from multiple responding officers, Gorski said. The footage also can be easily shared with the Kane County state's attorney's office through an application called Evidence.com.

If trustees approve the deal Monday, West Dundee would pay about $15,000 in its first year, and the remaining cost would be paid out evenly over the following four years. Officers likely would begin wearing the cameras later this year, once the equipment is ordered and a training session is held, Gorski said.

Axon also has agreed to replace the department's cameras with newer models halfway through the deal.

"For a smaller department like ours, I'm glad we're getting out ahead of the technical opportunity," Nelson said. "It's my expectation that over the coming years, we'll be seeing it become more pervasive."

Wearing a body camera is like having an accurate, unbiased witness present at all times, Gorski said. It holds all parties accountable. And unlike a squad car's dashboard camera, the technology goes everywhere with patrolling officers, including into a home, business or public facility.

Most complaints filed against West Dundee police are for verbal disputes or comments from officers that residents felt were discourteous, Gorski said. Reviewing the footage of those conversations - or any other allegations of misconduct - will allow the department to more easily substantiate or disqualify the claims.

For most members of the public, he added, just knowing that officers are wearing cameras increases their level of trust in law enforcement.

"It's rewarding to be able to provide a tool like this for our officers," Gorski said. "It'll be for them, it'll be for the public. It's just another step toward modern policing and being more transparent."