Donation covers Waukee's body cameras, curbs Des Moines' cost

Des Moines and Waukee police received a private donation Friday to purchase body cameras for their respective departments.

Rod French, founder of Kenworth Mid-Iowa Inc., a trucking company, gave $14,000 to Waukee Police Chief John Quinn to equip the entire department with 18 cameras. He also donated $125,000 toward Des Moines' 250 camera or $500,000 goal.

"It could save a life. I want those guys to know we're firmly behind them all the way," French said. "If you have a camera, it'll tell the whole story."

Des Moines Police Chief Dana Wingert said the department will purchase the latest edition of Panasonic's HD body camera, although it has to wait for the model to be released in June.

"Eight months ago, nobody was talking about body cameras," Wingert told a large crowd gathered at the company's headquarters Friday to celebrate French's retirement.

Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie said the city is hoping to find more private donations to help cover the cost of cameras and data-storing servers before assessing what the public contribution might be. The council already established the budget for this fiscal year with no room for body camera purchases at this point, he said.

Each camera, which officers will likely wear at the center of the chest, costs $1,000. The half-million-dollar price tag should also cover in-house servers to store the video footage and all new in-car cameras as well from the same company.

Buying new, internal servers instead of paying a fee for cloud storage should be cheaper in the long run, Wingert said. Annual costs would arise from repairs or maintenance.

Waukee Mayor William Peard said the Waukee City Council had already budgeted to pay the total cost for the cameras, so French's donation came as a surprise. Now that money could go toward other public safety purposes, Peard said.

Quinn said the department hasn't selected a camera model yet, but officials will likely make that decision by June and equip the full force by August. The ongoing annual cost for maintenance, data storage and repairs is still unclear, he said.

The department is also working at a new policy that dictates how each officer is expected to use a camera.

Quinn said as a group, law enforcement agencies from around the Des Moines area are considering establishing a common body-camera policy. It could include matching instructions for officers on when and where they should have their body cameras rolling.

"Sometimes when the camera gets activated … it possibly might be something that really has no residual value toward the case or toward a call for service," Quinn said. "With that said it could be eliminated or edited out."

Gov. Terry Branstad, who was also in attendance, said the state is not planning to put aside any money for law enforcement to purchase body cameras.

"That's a local decision," he said, adding that it's great to see the public and private sector working together on the issue.