ASHLAND — Ashland police officers are expected to get body cameras by summer, whether they are purchased through a state grant or not, Chief Dave Lay said.
The 32 body cameras, one for each officer, are expected to cost roughly $25,000, which would include the cameras, charging stations and software, Lay said.
The police division applied for a grant last fall through the Ohio Body-Worn Camera Grant Program that legislators passed as part of biennium budget in June. The program allotted $5 million for 2022, the program’s first year, and another $5 million for 2023.
Ashland was not awarded the grant when the program’s 109 departments were announced in January.
Among those on the list of awardees in January was Mansfield Police Department, which received just north of $145,000 for the expansion of its body-worn camera program.
The Ashland Police Division has been testing two cameras for about a month. Lay said the division will apply for the state grant again this year, but the division is moving forward with implementing the program with or without the grant money.
“They only had $5 million in funds and there was $16 million requested,” Lay said. “So it was a very competitive grant … but we’re moving forward with the program. We recognize it’s something that’s needed.”
Of the 109 law enforcement agencies that received grant money, 49 will use the money to create new body-worn camera programs. The other 60 will expand or upgrade existing technology, according to the governor’s office.
“Body cameras have quickly become a necessary tool for modern policing,” DeWine said. “With these grants, more than four dozen law enforcement agencies that have never had body cameras before will be able to invest in this technology to help protect their officers and offer transparency to the public.”
The use of body cameras is not mandated in Ohio, but their use has grown increasingly popular in recent years. The Ohio State Highway Patrol began outfitting troopers across the state with body-worn cameras last year.
The Ashland County Sheriff’s Office expected to purchase 40 cameras for its deputies in December 2019.
