Police Body Cams Coming to Tacoma

Here's a bit of news our friends over at the Tacoma Daily Index shared this week: The City of Tacoma plans to pilot a police body cam program starting in the coming months. From the Index:

The City has issued a Request For Information (RFI) from contractors regarding a 30-day pilot project to test five cameras to be worn by Tacoma police officers, according to a legal notice published this week in the Tacoma Daily Index. Information prepared by City staff shows the Tacoma Police Department plans to implement the pilot project within the next 90 days, and is collecting literature on the latest body cameras, evidence transfer modules, and online storage. ...

The City request asks for information from manufacturers on "BODY WORN AUDIOVISUAL (COLOR) CAMERA, CAMERA DOCKING MODULE, SOFTWARE AND SECURE HOSTED CLOUD- BASED EVIDENCE DATA MANAGEMENT AND STORAGE SERVICES." The project scope is listed as:

"To receive supplier information for potential pilot program testing on body worn audiiovisual cameras with camera docking module, software and secure hosted cloud based evidence data management and storage service. The pilot program will consist of 5 cameras deployed for 30 days."

The RFI describes the pilot project:

The pilot program will include up to 5 police officers using body worn audiovisual cameras, docking stations and software and secure hosted cloud-based evidence data management and storage service for a 30 day testing cycle. These officers will provide feedback which will aid in determining TPD’s business needs and standardization of products. The police officers feedback will also be used in establishing an “approved” list of products. These approved products will be purchased through a competitive bid process later in the year ... 

Read the full RFI here, including some very specific specs for the type of product the City is looking for. 

At this point, this is just a pilot to test the technology. Would you want to see body cams on Tacoma police?