by Geoff Fox
Hancock Police could be getting new body cameras and tasers once town officials select which company will provide the equipment. Because Councilman Josh McCusker was not present at the March meeting due to illness, so officials didn’t vote on the agenda item.
Sgt. Shawn Faith said the current body cameras have been having issues.
Sgt. Faith said Town Manager Mike Faith, Mayor Roland Lanehart, Jr., the police commissioners, and himself recently had meetings with Axon and Panasonic regarding body, vehicle, and street cameras. Quotes for each camera system were given to officials in their meeting packets.
Mayor Roland Lanehart, Jr. told members of council to take those packets home and look over them before the April town meeting because there’s “some stuff on both of them” that might need to be removed or things that might be added.
Lanehart said the town could go with street cameras from one company and body and car cameras from the other.
Right now, the police have Watchguard, which is through Motorola.
The town police have had those cameras for several years and Sgt. Faith said problems have started to arise with them.
Cameras having issues becomes a liability issue for officer and civilian safety, said town officials.
Town Manager Faith said the quote from Axon included cameras in the police vehicles and five body cameras. The Axon cameras include an AI feature for translation should the need come up with a person who doesn’t speak English.
Sgt. Faith said the Axon quote includes new tasers for officers as well, which would be a newer model.
The tasers officers are carrying right now are fine, Town Manager Faith said, but they’re coming up on the end of the five-year contract, which gives the police department replacement cartridges each year.
Councilwoman Terry Breakall-Smith asked if any of the contracts could be covered by grants. Town Manager Faith said there is money from the RedSpeed cameras and funding for police protection through the Maryland State Aid for Police Protection grant, or SAPP.
“We have money that really should be spent for the police department,” Mike Faith said. “We have enough money to cover what we want.”
He added the town might have to pick and choose a few options though.
Lanehart said there isn’t enough money to cover it all.
The RedSpeed fund is also used for National Night Out, which would need to be budgeted.
If the town needs more money, they’d do the street cameras as well, and there are grants available for those.
The total estimated cost for all of the proposed equipment would be $28,000 a year for all options, which Town Manager Faith said the town might not do. Some money could be coming back to the town through fine revenue tied to the speed cameras at the schools.
Lanehart said officials should schedule a workshop to talk about the camera quotes.
Police updates
Sgt. Faith talked briefly about a fatal shooting that happened in the Hancock area last month. No charges have been made public in the death of Brian Lavoie, Jr. on February 21.
When it comes to an incident like the shooting, Hancock doesn’t have the detectives or forensic capabilities like the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, so that agency takes over the investigation, Faith said.
“We were there, our agency was there, but they take care of it due to the complexity of it,” Sgt. Faith said.
The officers on duty and Sgt. Faith were on scene in about two minutes, Lanehart said.
The case is still under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office, Sgt. Faith said, and he couldn’t give any other information other than that.
