Washington pays for new bodycams

The Washington City Council opted to split funding for new law enforcement technology evenly between local-option sales tax (LOST) and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) at a meeting last week.

“We can still put some of that local-option sales tax payment toward the building, and we can still not deplete ARPA quicker than we want,” Mayor Jaron Rosien said. “We look to use that money with as much leverage and flexibility as possible.”

The nearly $39,000 price tag includes 13 new bodycams, five in-car video systems, a multi-bay docking station, and a year of digital storage expenses for the footage, which will continue to cost $6,000 a year moving forward.

"I’m glad that we’re going this route and just taking care of a project,“ Council Member Danielle Pettit-Majewski said. “I do not want to do this if we’re not going to have the processes spread out across the departments, that’s inefficient.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com