fi cer per year. This is likely to challenge many budgets. However, there are some costs savings that can be antici- pated, which might mitigate the sticker shock of a body-worn camera program. According to recommendation by the staff of the Hayward (Calif.) Police Department and the City in July 2014, they estimated that body-worn cameras have the potential to reduce paid liability by 25 to 50 percent in claims and lawsuits alleging excessive force, as well as reducing costs related to defense or resolution of claims and lawsuits.
Richard Garrison has 35+ years of law enforcement and training experience with federal, state and local LE agencies, with primary experience in investigations, homeland security, close protection and intelligence. He can be reached at
Richard.comicart@
gmail.com.
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incidents by 59 percent and reduced citizens’ com- plaints by 87.5 percent
The study by the Mesa (Ariz.) Police Department, from October 2012 to 2013, fi elded 50 body-worn cameras. While the study was examining the challenges of storing and referencing videos, one of the conclusions reached was that there was a 40 percent reduction in complaints and a 75 percent decrease in use-of-force complaints. A program by the Phoenix (Ariz.) Police Department involved the use of 56 body-worn cameras and consid- ered the recorded impact of their use over a year. Their conclusions were that body-worn cameras had a “civiliz- ing” effect on citizens. Citizen complaints were reduced by 44 percent. Other notable conclusions were that data storage and retrieval was “manpower intensive” and the video evidence obtained by the body-worn cameras enhanced domestic violence prosecution. In a 2014 Wichita evaluation of police body-worn cameras and the reference material available, it was pointed out that both the Rialto (Calif.) Police Depart- ment and Mesa (Ariz.) Police Departments sample sizes were small. The Wichita (Kan.) PD has 630 offi cers, whereas the Rialto (Calif.) PD has 111 offi cers with a “signifi cantly number of pre-existing conditions.” The Wichita evaluation was one of the few which in- cluded some basic and supplemental cost analysis. To obtain an additional 440 body-worn cameras, the initial costs of the cameras, docking stations, warranties, and IT infrastructure requirements would be $927, 200. Pro- jected operating costs were estimated at $226,800 a year, plus adding two police positions and misc. expenses at $350,112 a year. The estimated 10-year cost over 10 years was $6,440,585. Using the Wichita PD calculations, the costs are extrapolated to be approximately $1,022 per of-
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