The Salem City Council has approved the purchase of body cams for the first time for the police department. The $305,000 total package from Axon International also includes new state-of-the-art tasers and in-car cameras. It will be paid off in five installments of $61,000 a year.
Salem Police Chief Kyle Ambuehl says the 23 body cams should arrive as soon as May when they will be put into use nearly two years before the city is required to have the cameras by the state.
“Part of it was, the in-car cameras had the lengthy lead time and we wanted to do a package deal to help streamline everything. There’s other technology with this that we are going to be using that will go into the same system. We wanted to have it in and not be rushed at the very end to try and implement it and falling behind.
Ambuehl says the package comes with software that will help the city be able to retrieve video for cases and Freedom of Information Act requests.
Mayor Nic Farley says he hates the cost but in today’s environment, it is a necessity and protection for officers.
The police department looked at several different vendors before deciding the Axon proposal was the best.
The Salem City Council also approved a new three-year contract with the Fraternal Order of Police union. It includes a four-percent pay increase each of the three years of the contract and some other improved benefits including the creation of the Dr. Martin Luther King Birthday as a Salem City Holiday for the first time.
City Manager Rex Barbee says the entire city government will observe the Dr. King Holiday for the first time next January.
