Financial shortfalls for the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, led to the purchase of body cameras for the city’s police officers to be placed on hold for several years.
The Kenosha City Council endorsed the purchase of body cameras for officers in 2017, but budget shortfalls delayed the purchase. Officers in the city aren’t expected to have body cameras until 2022, a situation that has contributed to the frustration with the department since the shooting of Jacob Blake.
The officer who shot Blake, a 29-year-old black man, did not have a body camera. Videos from bystanders show the moments just before Blake was shot several times at close range while trying to get back in his car during an arrest, but there is no footage of the moments before the arrest or footage containing close-up details of what could have prompted the officer to start shooting. Such footage might have been captured if the officer had a body camera.
Rocco LaMacchia, chairman of the Kenosha City Council’s public safety committee, said that he hopes the shooting will lead to the body cameras being purchased before 2022.
“We have moved it back so many times,” he said. “I got a feeling this is going to move up on the ladder really fast because of what’s going on around the United States right now. Body cameras are a necessity. There’s no doubt about it.”
The city planned to purchase 175 body cameras in 2022. After the initial purchase of the cameras, the department will have to pay roughly $145,000 annually for the software that maintains the cameras and stores evidence for five years.
At least 16 law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin have not purchased body cameras for officers, including the Kenosha Police Department and the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office. Gov. Tony Evers has urged departments to mandate the use of body cameras, but it is not required by state law.
