El Paso City Council to hear presentation on 700 body cams for EPPD

EL PASO, Texas–  In early November City Council authorized the submission of a grant application for the El Paso Police Department to receive new gear from the State of Texas Criminal Justice Division. 

The grant would award the funding for 700 new body-worn cameras.

At City Council on Tuesday, some council members asked for a presentation about body cameras at the next city council meeting.

The grant totals over $660,000 – including over $165,000 in cash match by the city.

Sergeant Enrique Carrillo said that the department currently has 34 body-worn cameras, 28 of which had to be replaced due to wear and tear.

Those cameras were purchased through a grant from the El Paso Community Foundation. The 28 replacement cameras were purchased with funding from the Cardwell Foundation.

Officers assigned to the crisis intervention team and the DWI task force were all fitted for these cameras and have been used since then.

Assistant Chief Zina Silva said these recordings would improve transparency, and the videos may be used to enhance internal and external investigations. 

After a 90-day trial period, Carrillo said all the regional commands will start receiving the cameras and should be in place within five weeks.

He said the cameras would be interfaced with the mobile vehicle recorders in the units, which will help activate each camera. 

"Those will be done automatically when the emergency lights emergency equipment are turned on inside the patrol vehicle, and if that does not happen, if the emergency equipment is not used and the body cameras are not automatically turned on, then officers are required to manually activate them at every interaction with the public," said Carrillo. 

If the grant is approved and EPPD gets more cameras, ABC-7 asked how transparent the department will be with video evidence. 

"There are some cases where the release of videos are going to be restricted, and those will be looked at individually, we are open to transparency, but there are guidelines we need to adhere to with regard to case integrity and victims' privacy," said Carrillo. 

Some council members said they have been pushing for this.

Henry Rivera, City Representative District 7, said it could save a lot of potential false accusations either way so the cameras will capture the whole truth. 

"It is to protect the officers, the individual and the community as a whole like I always say you actually have three sides of the story, you have the officers side of the story, the individual's side of the story and the truth, and the truth is caught by the cameras," said Rivera.

Councilmember Alexsandra Annello said this is a huge priority for the council and has been for years. 

If the grant is approved, the grant period will not start until March 1, 2022.

A city spokesperson said the presentation is expected to be made on Monday, February 28, or Tuesday, March 1.