Interim police Chief Jason Arres said 26 volunteers ― roughly four to six officers per shift from various divisions — will take part in the six- to 10-week trial that will help determine which type of camera best meets the department's needs.
Among those participating are patrol officers, sergeants, detectives and members of the traffic and strategic response units, Arres said.
The eventual goal is to outfit all authorized 177 sworn officers, including the deputy chiefs and chief of police by fall 2022.
"We think it's a mutually beneficial thing for everyone," Arres said. "Our men and women do a great job every day with a lot of things and have a lot thrown at them so I am excited for the public to see the good work that is done on a daily basis by our police officers."
The cost of a subscription service that includes equipment and cloud storage would be about $400,000 per year or $2 million over a five-year contract, Arres said.
Because the department is only in a testing period, the department will store video footage from the body cameras on compact discs, he said.
Equipment from Motorola, Axon and BodyWorn by Utility is being evaluated, with participants testing each company's camera for two weeks.
The three companies were chosen because they have biggest foothold in the market and are available through the state's procurement program, Arres said.
Russell Matson, deputy director of administrative services for the department, said if the companies don't meet the department's needs, "we would expand our search and take a look more. We still might do that. We needed to have a starting point, and this is it."
Matson was involved in the deployment of body cameras in 2017 by the Elgin Police Department and was hired by Naperville in April 2019 to oversee public safety information technology.
The plan to equip Naperville police with cameras started last September when now-retired Chief Robert Marshall asked the Naperville City Council for funding to research the purchase.
Arres said expects to maintain the timeline established by Marshall, the goal of which is to go live with the cameras near the end of 2022.
Money for body camera research was already in the Naperville budget when Gov. J.B. Pritzker in February signed a comprehensive police reform bill that included a requirement for all police to wear body cameras by 2025.
The need for body cameras, Arres said, is a way to meet the expectation within communities for transparency with the public and a strong tool for officers in the midst of a critical incident.
"The human eye and human mind can only recall and capture so much," Arres said.
What the camera picks up, he said, can be reviewed by either that officer or someone investigating the case and that can provide a lead or a piece of evidence.
"Although I'm quick to point out, the body camera is not the end-all, be-all of any police encounter," Arres said.
It can only pick up what is in the field of view, and it can't pick up sensory observations, such as bloodshot pupils or the smell of alcohol or other things on a person's breath, he said.
They also hold people accountable by documenting their actions and interactions with police officers during a situation, Arres said.
In addition to body cameras, Arres said the department will be looking to upgrade the department's squad car audio and visual dashboard cameras, which were installed in spring 2014 and have reached their end of life.
The body cameras work in concert with dashboard cameras, it made sense to include both in the analysis, he said.
Body and dashboard cameras typically are triggered when the emergency lights of a squad car are activated, Arres said. Otherwise, officers would have to activate the camera themselves before approaching the public.
In public functions, such as the Chat with the Chief, the camera would not be used, he added.
© 2021 the Naperville Sun (Naperville, Ill.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
