Currently, only one-third of Delaware State Police cars have dashboard cameras, and those units are woefully outdated, officials say
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., joined Delaware State Police Col. Robert Coupe in Dover March 22 to announce the approval of $1.6 million in federal funds for new patrol car dashboard camera systems, as well as dozens of new firearms and bulletproof vests.
The bulk of the money, which comes from the fiscal year 2010 Commerce Justice Science appropriations bill, will be used to update the State Police’s aging in-car video systems.
Currently, only one-third of patrol cars have cameras, Coupe said. The federal grant would outfit all of the approximately 350 patrol cars in the fleet, as well as establish a system for wirelessly uploading video footage from cars to a central server.
Coupe said the technology is miles ahead of the current dash camera set up, which records video to an 8-hour VHS tape located in the trunk.
Carper noted that, as it stands, officers without camera systems are at a disadvantage in terms of the evidence they have access to after an incident.
“The [current] cameras can’t provide the evidentiary support we need,” he said.
Coupe also said the new system will give troopers one less thing to worry about in the field.
“These cameras enhance the safety of our officers, the citizens we serve and the integrity of our organization,” Coupe said.
Competitive bidding on the camera project will begin this week, Coupe added, and the systems should be installed by the end of summer.
In addition, federal funds also have been appropriated to buy 30 Sig Sauer .357 sidearms, 30 Remington 12-gauge shotguns and 150 new bulletproof vests.
Coupe said he’s also going to see if some of the money can be used for patrol rifles, which can be more useful than shotguns in certain instances.
Carper said the funding for the cameras, guns and vests represent the kind of federal earmarks that should be attached to certain bills.
“We don’t make earmarks for bridges to nowhere in Delaware,” he said.
Email Doug Denison at doug.denison@doverpost.com