Body cameras are dirt cheap.
Can you clarify?
Local news referred to new purchase of body cameras, and it sounded like they were about $800 each.
That is NOT dirt cheap-—unless you are referring to San Francisco prices for real estate.
A decent body camera is available on Amazon for around $50. A high-quality one goes for around $125.
And a police department could probably get even a lower price by getting a quantity discount.
But I don’t doubt that $800 quote for a second. The government routinely overpays for everything.
In the end, that doesn’t matter. It’s 2020. Any police department that is sending officers out without body cameras is negligent. It would be like sending them out without radios.
Permit me to add one more thing to my post #21. Maybe it’s not the price that is keeping some police departments from buying $50 body cameras. Maybe they don’t want anything that might contradict what their officers say.
Yes, I am that cynical.
Google body camera, and you can see a variety on sale from $50 up to a few hundred, depending on resolution, capacity, and other features.