Bartholomew County Council members are not ready to vote on a proposal for body cameras for sheriff deputies, although councilmen said they support the proposal.
The total cost for the requested AXON body and car cameras is $836,000, as proposed Monday during a work session of the Bartholomew County Council by Sheriff’s Capt. Brandon Slate. Sheriff Matt Myers also took part in the presentation.
As Slate explained, the department wants 57 body cameras and 54 car cameras for all merit deputies, corrections staff who transport inmates, and a small number of reserve deputies and courthouse security personnel.
In order to get the body and car cameras, an additional appropriation of $280,238 was being requested this year. In addition, the county would be required to enter into a five-year contract that requires $127,000 to be paid annually to AXON from 2021 through 2024, as well as a one-time installation fee of $50,000.
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In addition, the county’s information technology department would need $25,000 for a full module installation, county IT director Scott Mayes said.
Council members listened attentively as Slate and Myers described the attributes of the AXON products that include training and unlimited cloud storage at no additional cost. The cameras will be under warranty, and AXON agrees to provide new hardware halfway through the five-year contract period, so equipment doesn’t become outdated, Slate said.
About 34 minutes into the presentation, councilman and former two-term sheriff Mark Gorbett voiced his main concern.
“I’m supportive of it, but I don’t know if I can be supportive next Tuesday.” said Gorbett, referring to the formal July 14 council meeting when a vote can be taken. “To come up with over three-quarters of a million dollars that stretches over the next five years is quite a shock when we don’t know some of our revenue streams.”
Some on the council expressed fear that with manufacturers cutting salaries and hours, as well as area residents out of work, the amount of income tax revenue could significantly drop for more than one year, beginning in 2022.
Gorbett said he was also being cautious not knowing what the COVID-19 pandemic will be like in the months and years ahead.
“Mark, may I ask you this?” Myers asked his predecessor. “If you were out in a sheriff’s car in today’s world, would you want a body camera on you?”
“In front of me and behind,” Gorbett replied. “But I also have to understand the cost, and how it is going to impact everything else in this community.”
Council member Bill Lentz said he shared the same concerns as Gorbett.
A preliminary estimate indicates the county will receive $1.8 million less in income tax revenue in 2021 than this year, Bartholomew County Auditor Pia O’Connor said. Even more revenue might be lost when more accurate estimates become available early this fall, she said.
When she saw the presentation requesting body and car cameras on Monday’s agenda, O’Connor said she thought it was premature.
While there are sufficient funds to pay $280,000 this year, O’Connor said she emphasized strongly that she can give no assurances the county will be able to pay $127,000 installments annually for the next four years.
If Myers believes the body cameras are such a priority, he should make funding cuts in other areas in order to make his proposal more affordable, O’Connor said.
Council president Matt Miller twice described AXON as the “Cadillac of body cameras,” asking whether a less expensive camera can be purchased, and if it is possible the county can purchase body cameras now — and car cameras at a later date.
Another council member, Evelyn Strietelmeier Pence, said she can’t commit to a purchase when the council is only one month away from starting their 2021 budget talks.
However, Meyers was asked by a number of council members to return during the July 14 formal meeting, in order to see if anything can be worked out.
