Omaha police to buy up to 50 body cameras early next year

[Omaha Steve]

KENT SIEVERS/THE WORLD-HERALD
Omaha Police Officer Jaime Desautels wears a Taser Axon Flex camera. The eyeglass-mounted camera is wired to a control unit clipped on the officer's shirt.



http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/omaha-police-to-buy-up-to-body-cameras-early-next/article_1672e2ad-81fa-53b6-8af7-cce08af6e9cb.html

POSTED: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2014 1:00 AM
By Christopher Burbach / World-Herald staff writer

See what military gear agencies in Iowa and Nebraska received. (@ link)

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Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer hopes to buy 30 to 50 wearable video cameras in early 2015 for officers on the streets.

Schmaderer said the Police Department would use money from its seized-assets fund to pay for the cameras, related equipment and data storage. It could cost about $180,000 for 50 cameras and a three-year contract, according to a projection the department received from Taser International, whose cameras Omaha police tested earlier this year.



KENT SIEVERS/THE WORLD-HERALD

Bellevue Police Officer Jason Melrose used a body video camera attached to his uniform shirt as he worked his shift on March 29, 2013. Some of the officers in the Bellevue department’s trial of the cameras have had some struggles with the cameras’ general functions and with keeping them secured to uniforms, a spokeswoman said.


Schmaderer and Deputy Chief Greg Gonzalez said that 30-day pilot program generally went well, and they’ll be ready in the first quarter of 2015 to propose the department’s first purchase of cameras for regular use.

If that goes well they’re likely to propose purchasing more cameras, the officials said.

FULL story at link.

5-11-2013 Omaha officers told: Don't interfere with citizens' right to record police activity: http://www.omaha.com/news/omaha-officers-told-don-t-interfere-with-citizens-right-to/article_138c5ce9-d595-53f6-b80c-fe5b64f61267.html