Prior Lake police to wear body cameras

Prior Lake American

Prior Lake City Council approved the purchase of 26 body cameras and 11 squad-mounted cameras during its regular meeting on Monday.

The Prior Lake Police Department has been working on implementing the program since 2016. The department already has three squad cameras but no body cameras.

“In a society that expects video and trusts video evidence to confirm written or oral accounts of incidents, it is important that the police department is able to have the ability to deliver on this expectation,” according to the council memo.

The city held public hearings regarding the change earlier this year.

“The feedback that we got was this is the societal expectation or the norm,” Prior Lake Police Chief Mark Elliott said. “The technology is available and they feel it is best practices.”

Incidents around the country, mainly involving officer-involved shootings, have prompted numerous departments to take similar actions. The cameras can capture what officers are involved in but also gather evidence for later review from prosecution, Elliott said.

“Most people, when they are on camera, are going to be on their best behavior so the officers are going to be on their best behavior and the citizens will be, as well,” Elliott said.

Council awarded the contract to Axon for $180,238, paid over five years. The first year’s cost would be paid for with forfeiture funds while the rest would come from the general police budget.

The department chose Axon due to the company’s ability to provide the cameras, manage the storage and also provide a technical support workforce.

“This platform was able to integrate a lot of those different aspects into one platform and then also handle our storage capacity,” he said.

The move is one the department is looking forward to, Elliott said.

“The officers are excited for this,” he said. “They’re excited to have the technology here by the end of the year and to start using it.”