There are in addition to the $500 cost of each camera and charging station with warranty:
other support costs
$100
$300
liability insurance
$400
public records request
$400
equipment maintenance
$1,000
server storage
$1,600
legal
$1,600
video labeling
$6,400 ADDITIONAL INDIRECT COSTS PER CAMERA
The estimated $6,400 per year per camera is an eleven-fold increase over the initial purchase price of approximately $500—and it is a recurring cost. So, using our scenario, a city with 100 bodycams would face expenses of $640,000 every year. A larger city with 1,000 bodycams would face ongoing expenses of $6.4 million every year.
Interestingly, a bodycam investment is almost the inverse of a typical capital investment. In the usual scenario, an agency would make a large investment up front, say a fire truck, and then face substantially smaller maintenance and support costs in subsequent years. With bodycams, the upfront capital expenditure is substantially lower, while the ongoing costs are significantly higher.
This issue is controversial because the public expects transparency and, as described in the Rialto Study, the use of cameras decreases the use of force by officers which we all want. But, body cameras do open a door for new possible liability caused by the public excessively requesting videos and attempting to make claims. We are not saying body cams are not a good thing–they are for many reasons. But it is the responsibility of the purchasing agency to understand the true cost, represent these costs to the public, and get acceptance from all stakeholders before buying the cameras.
So, before signing an M.O.U. for a grant to purchase bodycams, it is critical that every agency consider the full cost of the program. A cost allocation plan can be used to calculate the indirect cost (of departmental support and of agency-wide services) associated with a purchase of police body cameras.
Later in the year, we will be publishing a case study where we collaborate with a local agency to calculate the fully loaded cost of outfitting their police department with body cameras. Stay tuned.
additional shared support services from all city departments ranging from payroll costs for the additional employees, to office space maintenance, to IT equipment, to HR support
incremental insurance costs
increased requests
updating firmware, maintaining the equipment, and processing RMAs
for storing all of the video captured by the cams
increased time for attorneys to review and defend increased records requests
cataloging videos with date stamps, time stamps, officer stamps, etc.
$6,400 ADDITIONAL INDIRECT COSTS PER CAMERA
2016 Q2 ISSUE COSTTREE CAPTURE. 27
$1,000
video redacting and auditing
ensuring videos are usable and only include the police action with unaffiliated parties blurred out