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Upland to consider purchasing on-officer video cameras [Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif. :: ](Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 25--UPLAND -- A City Council subcommittee on Monday will discuss a proposal to provide the Police Department with on-officer video cameras. The Police and Fire Committee is expected to give its recommendation on whether or not to spend $84,950 on the video equipment. The contract would then go to the council for final approval. Upland currently equips its officers with audio recorders. The Police Department considered several factors such as portability, ease of use and storage, when evaluating which company best suited the city, officials said. For the past six months, the Police Department has been testing out various on-officer video devices from five vendors, according to a staff report. "The Police Department has been monitoring the evolution of video camera technologies and recognized the critical importance that on-officer video plays in modern law enforcement. On-officer video allows for officer and field personnel to record video and audio, from the officer's perspective, of their interaction with the public," according to the staff report. Upland staff is recommending that the committee recommend approving a five-year contract with Scottsdale, Arizona-based Taser International because it offers the city a variety of mounting options as well as the ability to store the video recordings on a digital cloud system. If Upland ultimately decides to contract with Taser Axon Flex for the devices, its Police Department would become San Bernardino County's third to use the same company. Both the Rialto and Chino police departments use the equipment. Rialto conducted a one-year study of its video system which found there had been an 87.5 percent reduction in citizen complaints and 59 percent reduction in use of force incidents from the previous year. The report did not indicate when the study was done. "In today's world the prevalence of surveillance cameras and cellular phone cameras often results in short video clips that can show police personnel in unfavorable light," according to the report. After the first year of the contract the cost would be $20,226 annually for the remaining four years. The Police and Fire Committee meets at 5 p.m. Monday in the Pinky Alder Room, City Hall, 460 N Euclid Avenue. ___ (c)2014 the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, Calif.) Visit the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, Calif.) at www.dailybulletin.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |