(File Photo)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The officers who attempted to arrest Jacob Blake before one of them opened fire on him in Kenosha last week were not wearing body cameras. That raised a number of questions, and led to reports that the Kenosha Police Department doesn’t have them. But they’re not alone.
Many departments across the state – and the country – are still working to acquire body-worn cameras for officers. That includes Green Bay.
“Right now, we don’t have body cameras. We do have the squad cameras in our cars, so all the stuff that occurs in the vehicle and in front of the vehicle we can capture on video,” said Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith. “In a perfect world, every officer in Green Bay and and across the country would have a body camera to capture what’s going on in all these different situations that we hear about…It’s a great tool to get a different perspective about what’s going on in a certain situation.”
The Green Bay Police Department is looking into different vendors to find out which body camera is the right fit for the city. But one of the biggest factors holding the city back from implementing body cameras – is the price.
“They’re very expensive, in the millions of dollar ranges for a city the size of Green Bay,” Smith told WTAQ News. “It’s something we’re definitely interested in and we’re definitely looking at, but again, it’s a very pricey proposition.”
Smith hasn’t seen any state grant money or available funding for body cameras at this point, but would certainly accept the assistance. Even partial state funding, Smith said, would make it a lot easier and a lot more viable for Green Bay Police to afford.
The decision would also be backed by city leaders.
“I’m supportive of having body cameras on our officers here in the city of Green Bay,” said Mayor Eric Genrich. “One thing that we were waiting on was some certainty from the state of Wisconsin in terms of records retention and how long that video footage would have to be retained. That was a pretty significant gray area. Now with that certainty, we’re very much prepared to move forward with them.”
Genrich hopes to include at least part of the cost to purchase body cameras in the city’s 2021 capital budget.
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