El Paso County considers body cameras against on-going costs

El Paso County is considering buying body cameras for all sheriffs patrol deputies and constables. But with service plans for data and more, it’s not ready to take the plunge just yet.

“Commissioners court needs to consider this a little more holistically,” said County Judge Veronica Escobar.

During Monday’s commissioners court meeting, Escobar said she thinks that since this would be a multi-year if not permanent expense, it is something that needs to be done during budget talks in a few months.

“The challenge is there’s a big price tag,” Escobar said. “I generally have a problem approving on-going added costs to the M&O, the maintenance and operations side of the budget, without it being discussed in the context of our annual budget.”

County staff will now go back to Taser International to make sure the bid will stay valid through the start of the fiscal year 2017 budget talks in August.
“A lot of the time we don’t see how much money is saved by preemptively doing something,” said Commissioner Andrew Haggerty.

While Escobar and commissioners like Vince Perez believe savings need to be found to justify the purchase, others like Haggerty think that the money that could be saved from lawsuits the county could avoid by having body cameras.

“So having that backup, that proof of the video, is beneficial,” Haggerty said. “Plus, what this does, is that the tasers are included in the cost of the video, which will give tasers to every singe patrolman plus every single constable. And that is a great program in that regard. They work in sync with each other so the body cameras and the tasers will work hand in hand. I’m not a big fan of spending money, but spending money makes sense when you’re doing it the right way.”

The Taser International contract being considered would cost a total $1.7 million over five years for tasers, body cams and unlimited cloud video storage.