Shenandoah City Council discussed various capital projects, including police department equipment and public works requests, at a regular workshop meeting June 8.
The implementation of police body-worn cameras was one consideration discussed at the meeting. The council has been in talks to purchase the highly scrutinized devices since last year.
“It’s new technology that will help protect the officers from false accusations,” City Administrator Greg Smith said. “It also is protection during encounters with police officers. Everybody should have a body camera if we’re going to use them. Everybody is subject to getting into a situation where a body camera should be used.”
Over the past year, the Shenandoah Police Department has experimented with different body cameras to see which device works best for its officers. According to Smith, WatchGuard is the brand the city is considering, and it would cost $19,000 to outfit the entire force—not including data storage costs that could run an additional $19,600.
