Decatur Police Department will have an additional year of coverage on its body cameras after the Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday to purchase an extended warranty from WatchGuard.
Police Chief Clay Garvin told the board the department’s five body cameras were old and starting to get stuck in “boot mode,” making them unable to function.
“They will go into what is called the booting mode,” he said. “If they get stuck in that booting mode, you have one of two options to fix it. You can let it charge all the way down and then put it on the charger, charge it up and if it actually boots up, you’re good.”
If discharging the battery doesn’t work, Garvin said, WatchGuard charges $480 to repair.
“We’ve already had to send two of them back because they did in fact get stuck in that booting mode,” he said, adding two others have been stuck in booting mode, but discharging the battery was enough to fix them.
Although the department’s body cameras are out of warranty, Garvin said WatchGuard agreed to allow a 1-year extended warranty for $950, or a 2-year warranty for $1,900, which would cover all five of DPD’s body cameras.
The board approved purchasing the 1-year extended warranty using drug seized funds from the police department’s budget.
“I’m sure the body camera helped collect it, so we need to bring it back,” Alderman Mark Buntyn said.
Additionally, Garvin said he had learned the town had the opportunity to receive additional Justice Assistance Grant funding, which he wanted to use to purchase two new tasers for the police department.
“We put in, and I would like to request, if we get approved for it, the ability to buy two new tasers,” he said.
The police department’s current tasers are getting older, Garvin explained, and won’t be supported by Taser this year.
“You can’t buy batteries for them anymore, so if we get the grant, I’d like permission to buy two additional new tasers that will be supported and have a full 5-year warranty on them,” he said.
Garvin said he believed the JAG grant is 100 percent funded, meaning the town would not have to provide matching funds required under some grants; however, if it is not, he said he would pay the town’s match portion out of drug seized funds.
