City is buying policemen new body worn cameras

The Cairo Police Department will soon have body worn cameras for all patrol officers as well as investigators.
On the recommendation of Police Chief Keith Sandefur and Cairo City Manager Chris Addleton, the city council Monday night approved the purchase of 20 new body worn cameras from VieVu of Seattle for a total cost of $18,054.
The city police currently have four body worn cameras that officers have been sharing.
“For the safety of our officers and the citizens we serve, we are requesting to purchase 20 wearable VieVu cameras,” Chief Sandefur wrote to councilmen.
According to Addleton, the police chief researched other manufacturers, but in the end chose to stick with VieVu, which is the brand of cameras the city currently has.
“According to the chief, they have proven to be durable, the recording quality is good, and they are simple to use. The others he looked at had lower quality recording and were not as secure as the VieVu,” Addleton said Monday night.
The city manager had proposed the city use Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax proceeds earmarked for public safety to purchase the cameras, but Councilman James H. (Jimmy) Douglas said only capital outlay could be purchased with SPLOST dollars.
Douglas made the motion to approve the purchase and said that the money could be found either in other line items within the police department budget or from some other line item in the city budget.
City Attorney Thomas L. Lehman asked if the body worn cameras would replace dashboard cameras in city patrol cars. Addleton said that the city will continue to use dashboard cameras as well. He said that all police patrol cars are equipped with dashboard cameras, but investigators’ vehicles are not.
“That’s good to have both sides covered,” Lehman said.