"If everything goes well, April 1 is the target for the body cameras to go live," City Manager Maryann Menanno told Meadville City Council in her report Tuesday.
The final date of deployment for the new devices depends on technology installation, policy review and training updates, Chief Michael Stefanucci of Meadville Police Department said Wednesday, but the process is well underway with the completion last week of a computer server dedicated solely to the police department where downloaded video will be stored. A March 11 meeting with staff members of Motorola Solutions, the company that manufactures the cameras, will begin the training process.
"We want to get them out as soon as possible," Stefanucci said.
The body cameras are expected to work as a tool for both the department while also increasing the public's trust in the department.
"We applied for this grant because this is what we wanted to do," the chief said.
The addition of the cameras and the related technological upgrades is being funded by a grant of $445,650 from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the state's justice planning and policymaking agency.
First announced in December 2022, the rollout of body cameras in Meadville has been delayed by supply chain issues, city officials reported previously.
The department now has a camera for every officer, Stefanucci said Wednesday.
The Motorola Solutions Watchguard-type cameras are slightly larger than a deck of cards and are mounted on an officer's chest, according to the chief. The dash-mounted cameras that provide both panoramic views out of the front and rear-facing interior views for each of the department's vehicles are produced by the same company.
Adopting a state-approved policy for use of body cameras was a requirement of the grant application that funded the camera purchase. Stefanucci said the two-year old policy would be reviewed and updated that over the next few weeks.
The policy will cover such questions as when to turn body cameras on, how and whether to inform people that they are being filmed and when to stop filming after interactions with members of the public are over. At the end of each shift, officers will remove their cameras for charging and to download the recorded video, according to the chief, who expressed optimism about the addition.
"It's good for everyone," he said.
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