By Jeff Vorva
Per a mandatory law by the state, smaller communities’ police forces are required to equip their officers with body cameras starting Jan. 1.
Larger and mid-size towns have been using bodycams in recent years and now towns such as Palos Park are preparing for it.
The problem is that while it is state-mandated, the communities have to foot the bill for the equipment and data storage.
The Palos Park Village Council voted July 22 to award Miami-based Axon Enterprise Inc. a $44,882 deal for purchase, training and implementation of body cameras.
For now, village officials figure to foot the bill.
But Police Chief Joe Miller is hoping to get some state grants to defray some of the cost.
“There are a number of grants out there,” Miller said. “Those grants move forward once you actually actively buy the cameras and use them. They are basically grants that will reimburse you for a portion of your cost.”
Mayor Nicole Milovich-Walters is crossing her fingers that Palos Park can get some money back.
“This was an unfunded mandate from the state and [outgoing state representative] Mary Flowers said all of the towns and all of the villages in the state would be reimbursed for the cameras and the storage.
“We haven’t seen that as of yet. But hopefully these grants will offset at least a portion of it. This is a good thing to protect everyone. We just want to be able to keep that storage because that is the expensive part of this project.”
Police Commissioner Dan Polk said the law requires police forces to keep the video records for 90 days.
“You can imagine three officers on the street 24/7 times 90 days and that’s a hell of a lot of bytes,” Polk said.
State of the Village
Milovich-Walters will present a State of the Village Address via video, which will soon be available on the village’s website.
“I don’t believe there has ever been a State of the Village in Palos Park,” she said. “But in this past year, we have done a lot of work, and I would like to share those details with [the residents].
“I can be rather lengthy because there is a lot to share. Instead of taking time at a meeting, I’m going to do a separate video and you can watch it at your leisure.”