The Marana Police Department is set to start using body cameras next month. They've been using dash cameras on their patrol cars for about five years now. But, when the manufacturer stopped servicing the hardware they had to take them off.
"We basically made a decision in the early part of this year, February, March that we were just going to stop recording traffic stops," said Lieutenant Tim Brunenkant.
They were the same cameras that helped the department capture video that went viral. It showed the moment when an officer slammed his cruiser into an armed man who refused to surrender.
This year for the first time the department will record video in a different way. Last week, the Marana town council approved a $100,000 purchase of axon body cameras.
"The 60 cameras will go to our patrol division our patrol officers which includes our K9 officers as well as our motor officers," said Brunenkant.
The department currently staffs about 85 officers. The 60 body cameras will be enough to cover all of the officers on duty. The videos make the department more transparent and can also be used as evidence. The move means the public will have access to that video too.
"When those videos need to be redacted or available to the public our officers will be trained to pull those videos and make them available to the public."
The body cameras are coming from a manufacturer called Taser that's based out of Scottsdale. The package includes the cameras along with a platform to store an unlimited amount of video.
The cameras have already been ordered and the department expects to start using them at the end of June. They also plan on purchasing about 45 new dash cameras later this year.
