Decision time

Police Department nearing end of testing period for new body and dash cameras

The Euclid Police Department is approaching the end of a onemonth testing and evaluation period for new body-worn cameras and cruiser dash cameras.

At Euclid City Council’s Aug. 16 meeting, council decided to table the vote on a piece of legislation that would authorize the city to purchase new body-worn and incar cameras for the police department.

Council members are currently awaiting a report from the heads of the EPD, which will include their evaluation on officers’ experiences utilizing body cameras, which are new to the department as a whole, along with what company they would like to contract with for purchase of both the body and dash cameras.

Most recently, the department has been testing out WatchGuard brand cameras, which are produced by Motorola Solutions and designed specifically for law enforcement.

Police Captain Mitch Houser, who has been overseeing the camera systems project, told council that their one-month testing period with WatchGuard products will be wrapping up at the end of this week, and then he will begin reaching out to all of the officers in order to compile a report.

“Every single officer and detective will have had the opportunity to wear the cameras and to test the cameras out,” Houser said. “We only had one car that was outfitted (with new dash cam), but it’s in a car that works three shifts a day, seven days a week. So everyone has had an opportunity to use it.”

Houser acknowledged that getting Euclid’s officers equipped with body cameras has been a lengthy process as they tested out products and looked at what would work best for the department, but he believes it will be well worth the effort.

He also thanked Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail and the rest of council for their patience and enthusiasm throughout the process.

“I can say on behalf of the women and men in the police department, we’re all very excited about moving forward with this project,” he said.

Houser said the end result will equip every uniformed officer and detective with their own body cameras, and similarly, all 25 of the department’s cruisers will receive a brand new dash system.

Each officer will be responsible for maintaining their own cameras, and will charge them at the station.

With an estimated project cost of over $500,000, Houser said they wanted to make sure they did their due diligence in research and planning before implementing the new technologies.

“The tax dollars we’ll spend are hard earned by residents and businesses, and rest assured they will be spent wisely,” he said. “The new cameras will provide additional transparency for our residents and businesses. This is going to help foster greater public trust, and begin to strengthen relationships between the public and our police officers.”

Council is expected to revisit the issue in more detail at its next meeting in early September.

“The tax dollars we’ll spend are hard earned by residents and businesses, and rest assured they will be spent wisely. The new cameras will provide additional transparency for our residents and businesses . ... ”

—Captain Mitch Houser