Gov. Mark Dayton's signature Tuesday on a bill governing police use of body cameras set in motion local efforts by police to get them deployed in the Brainerd area.
Brainerd Police Chief Corky McQuiston and Baxter Police Chief Jim Exsted said they had been waiting for the state government to provide rules on the devices before they could start preparing to get them for their own departments.
The legislation classifies essentially all body camera video as private/nonpublic data, except in the instance that an officer fires their gun or causes "substantial bodily harm." The videos can also be made public if someone depicted in the video requests it to be released.
Exsted said although he'd have to read the bill itself, he was hopeful it was a good compromise between police and civil liberties advocates.
"It's good to start down this road," he said. "I know it's been a tough battle on both sides."
ADVERTISEMENT
---
---
Exsted said it would take a great deal of planning and money before his department could start using the cameras, so they wouldn't likely appear on Baxter streets before January of 2018.
The Baxter department can now begin drawing up cost estimates and policies on use, as well as looking at possible vendors from which to buy the cameras, he said. The cost to obtain them them would likely be steep, Exsted said.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I'm guessing it will be tens of thousands of dollars," he said.
McQuiston said he was glad to hear of the bill's signing.
"I think the law is a good compromise for both sides," he said. "I think it protects people's privacy and will help us to not be inundated with data requests. At the same time, I think it divulges information that the public should be entitled to."
The Brainerd Police Department aims to get its body camera program up and running by spring of 2017, he said.
The main obstacle remaining before the Brainerd Police Department in getting body cams is successfully obtaining the necessary funding, McQuiston said. A retention policy-how long will police keep video before destroying it-also needs to be worked out, he said.
Then there's the question of how to store and maintain the data. McQuiston said the most appealing solution was a combination of using a local server and the cloud.
Crow Wing County Sheriff Todd Dahl could not be reached for comment.
ADVERTISEMENT
ZACH KAYSER may be reached at 218-855-5860 or Zach.Kayser@brainerddispatch.com . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ZWKayser .
