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He replied that there are some grants available and the legislature is scheduled to discuss that topic <br />as well. He stated that at this point the counties and cities have to purchase the equipment on their <br />own. He stated that the personnel request is related to the body camera, in order to redact, manage <br />and process the body camera footage and other evidence. He stated that Ramsey has had cameras <br />in the squad cars since 2006, with the footage used as evidence in criminal cases. He explained <br />that now there are requests from the public for footage, which requires the footage to be redacted. <br /> <br />Councilmember Riley stated that he would like to have a bigger discussion on that topic in the <br />future. He stated that in the past there was a consensus that the City should not move forward with <br />body cameras. He asked if the recommendation from Police Chief Katers would be to have the <br />body cameras as it was included in the budget. <br /> <br />Police Chief Katers confirmed that the officers want body cameras, based on recent incidents, to <br />have that as a layer of protection. He acknowledged that there was discussion in the past but recent <br />unrest in other communities drive this request. <br /> <br />Councilmember Kuzma agreed that it has gotten to the point where that equipment is needed. He <br />asked about storage and whether additional storage would be needed. <br /> <br />Police Chief Katers stated that the cost estimate for the body cameras includes some storage. He <br />noted that there are options to have onsite storage or storage through the vendor. He noted that <br />there are also options for shared storage between cities. <br /> <br />Councilmember Musgrove asked if the police officer request was pushed off from the previous <br />year or whether it is a new request. <br /> <br />Police Chief Katers replied that it is a new request based off the service calculations. He stated <br />that there are currently 27 officers. He stated that the calculation is based off population, calls for <br />service, and administrative services. <br /> <br />Councilmember Musgrove stated that she has concerns with 12-hour shifts and whether 27 officers <br />cover those staffing needs and whether there is adequate staffing to cover vacation shifts. She <br />asked if it would be better, or possible, to have 10-hour shifts. <br /> <br />Police Chief Katers stated that there is a lot of input from officers as well as what provides the best <br />amount of coverage. He stated that currently there is not enough equipment to have 10-hour shifts. <br />He stated that the consensus from the officers is that they like the 12 hours shift model, noting that <br />they made the change to 12-hour shifts about six or seven years ago. <br /> <br />Councilmember Musgrove stated that she believed that there was a past discussion that the line <br />item for the storage system came in under budget. <br /> <br />Finance Director Lund replied that was to setup the system, which was a capital item, which <br />occurred in a previous budget. She stated that the capital was funded through the equipment fund <br />and therefore the savings remained in that fund. She explained that this service would be <br />considered operational and therefore would come from the general fund. <br />City Council Work Session / July 14, 2020 <br />Page 3 of 7 <br /> <br />