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Police Chief Katers explained that if the department follows the squad car fleet replacement <br />schedule it would take three to four years to replace them all since there are 11 squad cars. He <br />explained that the department has replaced things all at once before with IT as far as laptops go; <br />however, it is quite expensive to do it that way, around $250,000 to $300,000. <br /> <br />Mayor Kuzma stated that he is not in favor of replacing the cameras in different segments because <br />it is a lot of extra work for the police department considering things need to be redacted and <br />reviewed, the extra staff time would create more expense. He recommended that the body cameras <br />need to get going as soon as possible and this should be budgeted and taken care of right away. <br /> <br />Councilmember Specht agreed with Mayor Kuzma’s recommendation. <br /> <br />Councilmember Musgrove asked Police Chief Katers for clarification about if the department were <br />to replace the body cameras, that is one portion of the transition that would already be taken care <br />of, then the squad car video cameras would be a second portion, and if there would be an additional <br />portion that would be waiting for another year or if these two portions encompass all of the needs <br />and dollars that are necessary for funding. <br /> <br />Police Chief Katers stated that these two systems are all that is needed and there is nothing <br />additional that would be required. He explained that both systems can run independently; however, <br />there would be some staff time that is spent gathering data from two separate systems. He <br />mentioned that the cameras that are currently in the squad cars have no capability of redaction but <br />the body cameras will. He said that the legislature has stated that the department shall release some <br />pertinent body camera footage to the public. He added that this is an all or nothing situation because <br />the squad cars do not have this technology, because when the department originally got the squad <br />car cameras it was a piece of evidence in a criminal case that was turned over to the court <br />untouched. <br /> <br />Councilmember Howell asked if the department will be removing the unmanned aerial vehicle. <br /> <br />Acting Mayor Riley stated that the notes say it is being removed. <br /> <br />Finance Director Lund mentioned that she was looking for final confirmation on that which is why <br />she did not remove it. <br /> <br />Acting Mayor Riley added that a small group of Council all wanted the aerial vehicle out and asked <br />if the rest of Council agreed. <br /> <br />Councilmember Heineman asked if the aerial vehicle was for search and rescue purposes, and if <br />so, can the City utilize the County for these efforts. <br /> <br />Police Chief Katers stated that this was mentioned at the last meeting. He added that right now, <br />the department does utilize the County as the Sheriff's office has one as well as Emergency <br />Management; however, it adds a minimum of a half an hour onto response time because the <br />vehicles are coming from somewhere within the County. He said that the ask was that Ramsey <br />purchase one for search and rescue for when time matters since there would always be a delay. <br />City Council Work Session / August 23, 2022 <br />Page 9 of 16 <br /> <br />