By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
CLAREMONT, N.H. — The Claremont Police Department will be upgrading their body and cruiser cameras, as the city council recently unanimously approved a four-year contract with Motorola.
The approved contract with Motorola amounting to $147,180 includes the purchase of 24 body worn cameras, seven cruiser cameras, and all associated software installation and license fees. The $80,000 from grant money and the city match will be paid off immediately, and the remaining $67,180 will be paid over the ensuing four years as part of the lease agreement.
Chief Brent Wilmot met with the city council at their Feb. 26 meeting where he told them that $40,000 in federal grants was received to replace the body worn cameras and car cruiser system. The police department also received $40,000 from the spring capital fund at the previous city council meeting. Over the last several months, Wilmot has looked into a variety of vendors and packages, and it was clear that Motorola had the best offer at $147,180.
“It’s the most competitive in terms of pricing, but we actually find it to be the best in terms of what we’re looking for as well,” Wilmot said. “As the council is aware, we are in the early phases of our communications upgrade, and we are using Motorola equipment to do that. So obviously there is some continuity there is also some continuity in terms of outfitting the cruisers with the in-car cruiser camera system because the installer that we have also does the Motorola camera.”
Wilmot told the council that it is his intention to put the $67,180 on the capital improvement plan. He is hopeful to fund it through the CIP, and to use encumbered money.
In October, the city council approved the Small, Rural, Tribal, Body Worn Camera (SRT BWC) Grant of $40,000, with a required match by the city. This is a grant through the Department of Justice, and Wilmot said that body camera replacement was among the top priorities this year.
He told the council in October that the current body worn cameras were implemented in 2018 and are at the end of their life. Wilmot said there is a high price tag for body cameras, so he decided to seek grant funding. The grant was highly competitive, with 880 applications and 170 grants awarded, totaling $6 million across the country.
Wilmot said the cameras currently used are “consistently failing day by day” and that the police department stretched out the service as long as possible. The cameras need to be up to par, as a failed body camera could present difficulties in court. Wilmot said he does not want to degrade public confidence because the department lacks working technology.
The city council voted 9-0 to approve the contract, and Chief Wilmot said the year one payment of $80,000 will be paid immediately with delivery of the equipment expected to come two weeks from that meeting.
