TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE – The Town of Poughkeepsie has finally signed on to participate in the Dutchess County Body-Worn Camera program that provides body-cams to participating departments at a reduced rate. The county program is administered by the Dutchess County Department of Emergency Response.
At Wednesday night’s town board meeting, the council was informed that its police department would need a little more than $545,000 to implement the use of Axon body-cams by town police officers.
The council then authorized Supervisor Jay Baisley to enter the Dutchess County Intermunicipal Agreement to purchase the cameras at a reduced rate from Axon.
The $545,000 cost covers the installation of dash-mounted cameras and recorders in 20 police vehicles as well as 68 body-cams that will be worn by officers.
By entering the agreement with the county, the town will be reimbursed $2,000 for startup costs and $2,800 for each device, for a total of $192,400 for the body-cams and startup costs. The agreement didn’t specify if the vehicle dash-cams were eligible for reimbursement.
The county agreement requires each participating department to purchase the equipment from Axon, the approved vendor. To date, several police departments in Dutchess County have signed on and many of those, including the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department, have already begun wearing the devices.
Supervisor Baisley told Mid-Hudson News that issues with existing vehicle dash cameras that needed to be changed, delayed the town’s participation in the countywide program.
Town Councilman and New Hamburg Fire Chief Jeff Renihan supports the body-cam program “because I feel it is important that all of our well-trained officers have the body-worn cameras for transparency as well as to protect both the public and officers during interactions.”
Renihan’s sentiments were echoed by fellow board member Mike Cifone. “The body-worn cameras will prevent false accusations amongst our officers performing their duties of protecting the public,” he said. “They will also help de-escalate situations that may arise, which is a benefit to all parties involved.”
The town will join the Dutchess County police agencies of the City of Poughkeepsie, the towns of Hyde Park, Pine Plains, and East Fishkill, and the police in the villages of Fishkill, Millbrook, and Wappingers Falls once the program begins.
