Grant would allow EPPD to buy body cameras for officers
A $110,000 grant from Andeavor Corporation, THE Cardwell Foundation and the El Paso Community Foundation would allow the City of El Paso to buy body cameras for the El Paso Police Department.
The grant will fund body cameras for the EPPD Crisis Intervention Team Unit and the DWI unit, according to a news release by the grant donors. It will buy between 30 and 35 cameras for both units, City Representative Henry Rivera told ABC-7.
El Paso City Council needs to approve the grant.
“I’ve been looking for ways to fund this project because I feel El Paso Police Department needs to carry those cameras to present more of an image of [and] further their improve their transparency,” Rep. Rivera said.
ABC-7 spoke with Ron Martin, President of the El Paso Police Association. Martin said he is not against the body cameras, but does have some concerns. “They will give you the cameras at a cheap rate, but the actual cost is in the storage of the data that the cameras are recording,” Martin said.
Rivera said funding for the storage is all part of the grant.
Martin told ABC-7 he is also concerned that by getting the body cameras, the City will slash funding for department personnel. “What I don’t want them to do is stop academies and not hire police officers because they are spending money on cameras,” Martin said.
“I will emphatically say no,” said Rivera in response to Martin’s concern about funding. “Those terms have already been appropriated by the City. We’ve got a 10-year program with two academies per year,” Rivera said.
