Anonymous donation leads to body camera, drone purchase

When he was hired, Bryant Police Chief Carl Minden set a goal for all Bryant officers to have body cameras while patrolling. Thanks to a generous donation from a resident, Minden can check this goal off of his to-do list.

A person who wishes to remain anonymous donated $25,000 to the

department.

Minden calls the donation “tremendous.”

“He wanted our men and women to have the best technology for their safety and for the citizens of Bryant and to give back,” he said.

The Bryant Police Department currently has cameras in their vehicles and the school resource officers have cameras. With this donation, all of the patrol officers will receive cameras.

“The program was already started before I got here. We’re just finishing it off,” he said.

To integrate with the department’s current system, Minden is requesting the purchase of a few additional pieces. This purchase will be discussed during a Bryant City Council meeting Tuesday.

Minden feels the cameras are benefi

cial for officers and the community.

“It’s good for (officers) if allegations are made. It’s good for evidentiary purposes. Basically, it’s one more way for us to be transparent in all of our actions,” Minden said.

As well as the body cameras, officers were also able to purchase a drone with the donated funds.

The multipurpose drone has a spotlight and can detect heat to help locate a person. It also has a speaker, so police can play a recorded message to communicate with a victim.

Officers were able to use it during school traffic to identify problem ideas and during the recent escape of a person from the Alexander Juvenile Services Center.

He believes the drone helped officers located the juvenile quickly.

With the drone, officers were able to “survey area we wouldn’t have been able to see without having a helicopter,” he said.

The escapee was later located in a heavily wooded area.

“It’s that eye on the scene we previously didn’t have,” he added.

As well as his goal of having body cameras for the department, Minden also

wanted officers to receive Narcan, a medication used to help a person who is suffering from an opioid overdose. The Bryant Police Department has been awarded a grant for the medication. Once officers complete necessary training, they will receive kits, Minden said.

He noted that he and other officers are always looking for ways to improve to “stay as progressive as we can.”

“We don’t want to be stagnant. We want to keep growing as technology improves. You just want to stay on the forefront,” he said, adding that the good men and women of the department are giving him ideas.