Romeoville Approves Purchase For Police Body Cameras

ROMEOVILLE, IL — The Romeoville Village Board approved a purchase for body cameras for its police department at its Wednesday Village Board meeting.

During the workshop portion of the meeting, Chief Ken Kroll said the department is buying its body cameras ahead of the 2025 state mandate deadline.

"We're a believer in the body cams," Kroll said. "It's a good system for us. We believe it promotes trust and transparency for the police department."

The purchase will be for Axon body cameras, at a cost of $479,989.20 for five years of the program.

Kroll said the department did a trial program a few years ago with three different manufacturers.

"I will tell you that Axon is clearly the leader in this field right now," Kroll said.

The body-worn cameras will integrate with the cameras already in the squad cars, Kroll said. All the squad cars will be brought onto the Axon platform, as some were using an older system.

Village Manager Dawn Caldwell said the Village received $455,000 in grants. Ongoing costs will have to be covered by the Village, but the upfront costs will be covered by grants.

"[We're] well ahead of the deadline that was set for this," Mayor John Noak said.

The Board also approved a $34,474.60 contract for Axon cameras for its squad cars.