The City Commission unanimously agreed on Monday to purchase 122 cameras for a program that will likely begin by July 2021, ending a years-long wait-and-see approach by Sarasota leaders.
The city is using vendor Axon Enterprises, a leading body camera manufacturer that produces technology and weapons for law enforcement.
The cameras automatically begin recording when an officer pulls their weapon — an increasingly popular model that law enforcement leaders in St. Petersburg and Clearwater have also embraced. The cameras are also audio triggered and turn on when other officers are nearby. Officers can also turn the camera off and on but there are limitations per the department’s policies.
The contract with Axon includes 122 body cameras as well as new Tasers and other equipment. Officers who are most likely to respond to 911 calls will be outfitted with the body cameras.
The program comes with a hefty price tag: more than $3.6 million for five years.
In addition to the equipment cost, the city would hire an operations manager, a public records coordinator and a technician to help maintain the cameras and protect the identities of victims and bystanders.
Vice Mayor Shelli Freeland Eddie was concerned about transparency if the positions were filled by city or police department staff.
"Be prepared for some pushback when there is a question of the legitimacy of the decisions that are being made by these three individuals," Freeland Eddie said. "Because of the sensitivity of the jobs they have, because they are essentially policing their colleagues and (deciding) whether or not they're following the rules and procedures."
For the last five years, Sarasota has been philosophically inclined to embrace body cameras, but its stop-and-start approach has stymied action for years. Cameras purchased in 2014 in preparation for implementing body cameras with officers are now worthless.
The renewed momentum for body cameras comes after protests nationally and locally after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck, as well as several other high profile cases.
In Sarasota, at least anecdotally, the use of body cameras is unanimously wanted by both law enforcement officials and the community at large.
Commissioner Hagen Brody, a former prosecutor, cautioned that the presence of body cameras may have a “chilling effect on our residents' willingness to participate with the police.”
Commissioner Willie Shaw noted that there is still work needed to build transparency and trust between the police and community at large. For Shaw, implementing body cameras is an important step.
“The more cameras, the more evidence, the more conversations we can have,” he said.
While demonstrations have called for defunding or abolishing police departments, body cameras have for several years been seen as a key tool for accountability and reform. But research into whether outfitting officers with cameras limits use-of-force incidents has been mixed.
“I do have concerns that it’s not a perfect answer, but it does allow us to see what our officers are doing and they can build public trust," said Chief Bernadette DiPino, a longtime supporter of body cameras.
“While body cams have benefits, it’s not the end-all and be-all answer,” DiPino said.
Sarasota joins North Port, which recently implemented camera use for its officers.
Outgoing Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight has yet to buy into the idea.
Citing an estimated $2.5 million to implement a body worn camera program for his deputies, Knight has said the agency does not plan to use them.
Knight said that while body worn cameras may reduce complaints, they “do not change the culture of a police agency stuck in the wrong decade.”
Knight’s successor, Kurt Hoffman, who won election in August, did not return a phone call requesting comment. Based on comments Hoffman made in the campaign, it appears he wants to continue Knight’s policy.
In an August forum, Hoffman said that while he’s not against body cameras, they're not yet needed in Sarasota County because internal affairs complaints and use of excess force by county deputies have decreased in recent years.
Instead of body cameras, Hoffman said he would prefer that the Sheriff’s Office hire more deputies.
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