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27.

Meeting Date:	10/13/2015
Body Worn Camera Grant Award
Submitted for:	Martin Cuellar	Submitted By:	Anita Guerra
Department:	Sheriff

Subject:

Discussion and possible action to accept a grant award in the amount of $18,959 from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) for a Fiscal Year 2015 Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation of New Body Worn Cameras (BWC) Program for the policy development/implementation and purchase of Body Worn Cameras for the Webb County Sheriff’s Office and authorizing the Webb County Judge to execute all relevant documents; and any other matters incident thereto. This grant requires a Fifty (50%) percent match, or an $18,959 cash match from Sheriff's Forfeiture funds. [Account #168-2001-9301]

Issue: Tragic local and national events have eroded public trust in law enforcement agencies and their officers. Recent violence has again focused attention on controversial confrontations between certain citizens and law enforcement officials; and, this violence has further fomented distrust between community members and the officers sworn to protect them.

Solution: Grant award to leverage federal resources so that the Webb County Sheriff’s Office will be able increase transparency and accountability through the grant-funded implementation of a comprehensive, holistic body-worn camera system for its sworn officer force.

Result: The Webb County Sheriff’s Office will be able to achieve greater transparency and accountability in its service and protection of the Laredo/Webb County public and taxpayers while leveraging federal grant funding to implement a complex technological system that would otherwise require substantial initial start-up costs to be paid through the Webb County budget.

Background:

The U.S. Department of Justice has concluded that body-worn cameras (BWCs) are an important tool that could be an integrated part of a jurisdiction’s holistic problem-solving and community-engagement strategy, helping to increase both trust and communication between the police and the communities they serve. Body-worn cameras (BWCs) can be highly effective, providing an inalterable audio and visual record of interactions that can capture empirical evidence in the event of a crime, police-citizen interaction, or use-of-force incident. Preliminary research by the U.S. Department of Justice indicates that departments that have effectively implemented body-worn cameras (BWC) programs have received fewer public complaints, file fewer use-of-force reports, and show a reduction in adjudicated complaints resulting in a decrease of settlements.

Previous Court Action:

The submission of the grant application was approved at the court meeting held on June 8, 2015.

Fiscal Impact

Budget Account Number:	268-2001-9301
Funding Source:	Grant/State Forfeit
Balance:	Not Applicable
Financial Impact:
$18,959 grant funding for the Webb County Sheriff’s Office $18,959 cash match by the Webb County Sheriff’s Office (State Forfeiture Funds 168-2001-9301)

Attachments
BWCs Grant Award