Pflugerville City Council Approves Contact To Equip Police With Body-Worn Cameras

PFLUGERVILLE, TX -- City Council recently approved a a purchasing agreement valued at nearly $1 million to equip police with body-worn cameras.

The council authorized a master services and purchasing agreement with Taser International Inc. for the camera system at the last regular meeting last Tuesday. The contract calls for body-worn cameras to be work by all Pflugerville police officers.

“In light of current events, the cameras are extremely important to provide a transparent view of what is happening as our officers are out responding to calls and protecting our community,” Assistant Chief of Police Jim Mclean said. “It allows an unbiased view of what actually occurs on the scene. While we have cameras in our vehicles, the line of sight is limited by where the car is parked and angled, these new body-worn cameras will allow us to see and hear with additional footage.”

To that end, all Pflugerville officers will have a body-worn magnetic mount camera that attaches to the shirt of their officer uniform, a city spokesperson said.

"The system is set up to synch with the Police Department’s new CAD/RMS record system that was approved by Council and being implemented in 2017, thus the video will be linked in a database to police incident reports," a news advisory on the measure describes. "The district attorney and county attorney offices will have access to the video files through a web interface that allows for quick response to Open Record Requests and accessibility of files for various cases."

The city has tested demonstration units and seen firsthand the benefits of the body-camera system, Mclean said. The new cameras are expected to be fully implemented citywide in the next three months, according to city officials. The cameras are part of a 5 year contract for $947,829.77. The first year’s cost of $261,449 was approved by City Council using funds from the FY 2016 budget, officials added.

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