TACOMA, Wash. — The Tacoma Police Department will present information to city leaders Tuesday regarding police body cameras.
Currently, Tacoma police officers don’t have body cameras. The department wants that to change.
“I believe that everyone in Tacoma is behind the body camera initiative,” said Officer Wendy Haddow, Tacoma Police Department.
Haddow said body cameras lead to trust and transparency between police and the community.
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“It records audio. It records visual. It’s there for anyone to review it,” she said.
If Tacoma police get body cameras, they’ll be following in the footsteps of other agencies in Puget Sound.
In October, Kent police officers began wearing body cameras. The total price tag for 105 cameras was around $1.5 million, which came from the city’s red-light camera program.
In December, the Everett Police Department launched its own body camera pilot program. They’ll test and study 10 body cameras for six months.
Meanwhile, in Tacoma, the bill would be quite a bit bigger.
In 2017, police did a $50,000 body camera trial run. Last year, the department asked for more money.
“We asked for $2.5 million for body cameras to implement the program and it was not granted,” said Haddow.
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Tuesday, Tacoma police Chief Don Ramsdell will meet with city leaders.
Police said if and when body cameras are approved, they could roll out a pilot program in four to six weeks. If successful, the department could outfit 247 officers with body cameras within six months.
“This builds greater accountability, which leads to greater trust from the community in their police department and that’s vital for any police department to succeed,” said Haddow.
“As a city, we must develop a long-term, comprehensive approach to reform that is broader than policing and that incorporates feedback from our community, especially those most impacted by systemic racism. At the same time, we must also take immediate actions that demonstrate our commitment to making lasting and impactful change. Moving forward on funding for body cams without waiting for our budget cycle is one immediate action we can take, and I look forward to [Tuesday’s] discussion,” said Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards.
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