Maitland, Eatonville police will join agencies in using body-cams

The Maitland and Eatonville police departments will equip officers with body cameras, joining a growing list of law-enforcement agencies in Central Florida to use them.

Officials in both communities recently decided it was time to embrace the monitoring technology that is becoming standard, following the adoption by local agencies such as the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Orlando Police Department.

The Maitland Police Department is working to have 40 officers on patrol duty wearing the cameras by fall, said spokesman Lt. Louis Grindle.

The department hasn’t chosen a specific model yet but is focused on selecting a brand with a battery life of about 12 hours — the duration of an officer’s shift, he said. Cameras will include docking stations for cloud storage upload and battery recharging.

The cost for hardware, software, storage and licensing over the next five years is projected to be $213,580, according to the department.

Grindle said the cameras provide important context during an investigation of an officer’s use of force or a citizen complaint.

The department has an average of seven use-of-force incidents per year and six complaints.

“Our numbers are relatively low with things like that,” he said. “We’re just trying to stay as transparent as we can.”

Supporters of body cameras say the recording devices provide vital clarity following incidents such as an officerinvolved shooting — but only if they are on at all times while on duty and the battery doesn’t quickly drain.

In May, two OPD officers who shot and killed a suspect fleeing Colonial Plaza didn’t have body cameras. The battery life ran out on one officer’s camera and the other officer hadn’t been issued a camera yet, according to the department.

Maitland is considering using seizure funds to pay for body cameras while Eatonville officials voted last week to accept a federal grant that will cover half the cost of five body cameras.

The police department would pay the $7,599 cost up front and then get the federal portion from the Department of Justice.

Deputy Chief Joseph Jenkins said his goal is to have officers wearing the 140-

“We get complaints on officers every day This is just a more definitive way to substantiate a complaint or disprove a complaint.” Deputy Chief Joseph Jenkins, Eatonville Police

degree, wide-angle view cameras by the end of July.

“We get complaints on officers every day,” he said. “This is just a more definitive way to substantiate a complaint or disprove a complaint.”

Despite an increasing number of law-enforcement agencies employing the use of the body cameras as a preventative surveillance measure, some cities and counties continue to hold out.

In August, Winter Park city commissioners rejected a measure to acquire body cameras for police, citing cost concerns.

City spokeswoman Clarissa Howard said there are no plans to revisit the issue during the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

Elsewhere in Central Florida, a Leesburg Police Department spokesman said concerns about privacy complaints preven the department from using body cameras but it is open to eventually buying cameras and storage software with redaction capabilities.

Lt. Joe Iozzi said options include “replacing our pre-existing in-car camera systems with body cams when they break down or having a mix of both to best serve the agency and our citizens.”