Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» Police Department One of 33 Agencies Nationwide to Win Grant for Body-Cam Usage
September 29, 2016
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» is one of 33 agencies, and one of only three community colleges nationwide, awarded a grant by the Department of Justice, for the development of a program for the use of body-cams. Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» intends to match 1/2 of their approximately $28,000 1-year funding, thus bringing their total to almost $50,000. These funds will be used to assist Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»'s police department in work on developing a pilot police program for the use of body-cams.
The Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» project will entail working over the next several months researching body camera technology, storage, prices, use, vendors, and policies and procedures. After the vetting process, body cameras will be deployed on Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» Police Department officers over the next year. Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» will be working with the State Attorney's office, who wrote the letter of support for this grant written by the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» Office of Advancement, on the complex policies and procedures for this project. Area law enforcement will be assisting in the project with their insight as well.
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» Police Chief, Ed Book, stated, "We are very honored that Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» and the Santa Fe Police Department were looked at by the Federal Government to be a leader in implementing a body camera program. Law enforcement in our region works very hard to ensure an excellent transparent relationship with the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» community. This pilot program will just enhance that and be another component of comprehensive safety and security at Santa Fe."
