Commissioners approve contract to outfit more Miami-Dade police officers with body cameras

Police hope to have 1,000 body cameras by end of fiscal year

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Commissioners approved a five-year contract Tuesday to add more than 1,500 body cameras for Miami-Dade police officers.

The decision comes after the Department of Justice awarded the Miami-Dade Police Department a $1 million grant last year to buy 500 body cameras.

Authorities now hope to have 1,000 additional body cameras by the end of the fiscal year.

Miami-Dade police have been in the process of getting body cameras since 2013 and the new contract is expected to cost more than $5 million.

"We did not react to Ferguson. We were way ahead of Ferguson, alright," Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said at Tuesday's hearing. "It's just taken us a long time to get the procurement, get the right camera, put the procedures in place, change the law in Tallahassee to protect privacy, and now we are at this point."

Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez said having the cameras will allow police to get evidence of what really happens during a call. He said that evidence will enhance citizens' trust in police officers and also protect officers.

"(There would be) less assaults on police officers, less batteries on police officers and less instances of use of force on our part because there is someone recording -- the officer -- and the perpetrators knows it's being videotaped," Perez said.

The cameras are small and light-weight. There's a clip on the back so officers can attach it to their uniforms.

At the end of every shift, officers will place the cameras on a docking station that automatically downloads the video.

Some commissioners were concerned that officers have to remember to manually turn on the cameras and dock them, but Perez made it clear that since these cameras will be part of the job description the department will implement disciplinary action if an officer forgets to press play.

The body camera company used by Miami-Dade police also has contracts with police departments across the country, including the Oakland Police Department in California and the Charleston Police Department in South Carolina.

Representatives said they've had success in the other departments and hope to have the same success in Miami-Dade County.


About the Authors:

Jenise Fernandez joined the Local 10 News team in November 2014. She is thrilled to be back home reporting for the station she grew up watching. Jenise, who is from Miami and graduated from Florida International University, also interned at Local 10 while she was in college.

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.