by Geoff Fox
The Hancock Police Department will be getting new body cameras, vehicle cameras, and tasers from Axon after town officials unanimously approved the purchase.
The cost of the cameras in the Axon quote would be $138,361, which would break down to a monthly payment of $27,819 this August, and then $27,635 each year through 2030.
The cost would be for seven body cameras, five vehicle cameras, 10 tasers, and translator.
Proceeds from the RedSpeed cameras by the high school and elementary school.
The town would be piggy-backing off the Maryland State Police to get the same price for their cameras.
Because the state already awarded the bid through competitive bidding, Town Manager Mike Faith said the piggyback would save the taxpayers in Hancock a “substantial amount of money.”
He added if the state bids a contract, they’ll get a better deal than if Hancock were to bid a contract.
“We get the benefit of the pricing that Maryland negotiated for the town,” Town Manager Faith said.
Councilman David Kerns said police commissioners and police department went through three different companies and it just depended on how much the town wanted to spend.
“It’d be nice to have the cameras in the cars, but for right now, it would be nice just to get the body cams,” he said.
Mayor Roland Lanehart, Jr. said those cameras are the town’s number one priority.
The current cameras being worn by Hancock Police are in “bad shape” and could cause a problem, Kerns added.
The Axon cameras are considered the industry standard for police departments.
Sgt. Shawn Faith said the translation app on the cameras can translate 50 languages where the person talks to the camera in their language and the camera speaks to the officer in English. It works the same way for officer to person.
Kerns said he understands the dilemma Sgt. Faith is facing, and the cameras are expensive, but there are times when police stop a vehicle and the people inside do not speak English with police not knowing what they are saying to each other, putting officers and members of the public at risk.
To combat that, Kerns said police would have to take out their phones and use the translate app on that and hope it picks up what is being said.
“It’s all about safety,” Kerns said. “Do we have that problem every day? No. Do we have murders every day? No, but we’ve had three of them in the last five years which I don’t want any more of.”
Kerns said those things just happen and the town must make sure the police are best equipped to handle whatever comes up.
Sgt. Faith said each Hancock officer has had multiple stops involving non-English speakers.
Town Manager Faith said the current levels with RedSpeed cover the costs, but you can’t predict the future.
Lanehart said the town is still working on getting a RedSpeed camera along Main Street or on High Street in the areas of Good Shepherd Preschool as it’s considered a school.
The money from RedSpeed is for police department uses such as the cameras, Kerns said.
Town Manager Faith said since the state’s contract was put out for competitive bidding already, there wouldn’t be a better price available.
He also agreed about having the cameras in the police vehicles as it would be a second camera on suspects and police officers.
“I’ve seen a lot of videos online where that really comes in handy for officer safety,” he said.
Sgt. Faith said there would be a forward-facing camera and another on the subject in the back of the car.
There’s also a chance there could be credit on the current tasers that could also factor into the final costs.
That total won’t be much, but it would be something toward the final costs.
“Even if it’s a little bit, it’s better than nothing,” Councilwoman Terry Breakall-Smith said.
