Dashboard cameras headed to Tacoma police vehicles. Here’s what they’ll do, cost
Tacoma Police Department patrol vehicles do not have dashboard cameras, but that will soon change.
The city of Tacoma is dedicating $2 million to purchase and operate dashboard cameras for police vehicles.
The funds come from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill signed by President Joe Biden in March meant to help mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For 2021, Tacoma is getting $30.5 million in ARPA funding, of which 9 percent ($2.8 million) is earmarked for public safety.
As of April, there were 271 marked TPD patrol vehicles, with about 75 Crown Victoria vehicles in the process of being phased out.
In addition to adding dash cameras, the funds will expand Tacoma’s newly-implemented police body-worn camera program and add some additional support staff.
The Tacoma Police Department finished implementing body cameras for 257 officers on March 1. There remains about 100 non-patrol officers without body cameras who would receive them with the new funding.
Tacoma Police Department staff and City Council members discussed dash cameras in a Community Vitality and Safety committee meeting on April 22.
“This option would allow for increased visibility into patrol activities, such as recording events leading up to citizen’s contact with officers,” Capt. Christopher Travis said at the meeting.
Travis said that the cameras, mounted on the dashboard inside the vehicle, also would record the passenger areas of the vehicle and interactions that happen between officers and people who are detained or arrested.
“These contacts cannot be observed with our current body camera system alone,” he said.
The city estimated the cost for implementing dash cams and expanding the body camera program to be approximately $1.02 million in one-time spending and roughly $1 million per year in ongoing costs. Starting in the 2022-2023 biennium, ongoing costs will need to be budgeted.
A timeline for implementation will be shared later this month.
This story was originally published July 6, 2021 at 12:19 PM.
