The Flowery Branch City Council voted Thursday night to approve the use of $402,000 for various upgrades to equipment within the Flowery Branch Police Department.
Police Chief Chris Hulsey said the vote will allow for the purchase of new and upgraded body cameras, vehicle dash cameras with license plate readers, tasers and cloud storage capabilities for the previously mentioned cameras.
Hulsey said all of the equipment will be purchased from Axon Inc., whereas in the past the department has used multiple vendors for this equipment.
The vehicle dash cameras will operate similarly to Flock cameras, which read the license plates of any cars in their proximity.
"It automatically comes up on their laptop if the car is stolen, if there's a wanted person or a missing person," Hulsey said. "It will automatically give us those alerts in real-time."
The department has been using their current body cameras for 10 to 15 years. One of the largest upgrades with the new system is the jump from 480p resolution (Standard Definition) up to 1080p (High Definition).
"We're going to have better video capabilities," Hulsey said. "It keeps us transparent. It provides evidence that the officer has done something wrong, or that they didn't do something wrong. The officers won't have any control of what is being recorded and what is not being recorded."
The bundled package also provides unlimited cloud storage for the videos produced by the dash cameras and body cameras.
Finally, Hulsey said they have been operating with just four tasers spread out between the department's 20 officers. That will change following the vote Thursday night to acquire 16 additional devices.
"We've been hot-seating the tasers," Hulsey said. "So if the oncoming shift comes in, the officer's got to take it off his belt and give it to the officer in the oncoming shift. This way, it stays on their uniform."
The tasers will work in tandem with the newly purchased body cameras, as well.
"If one officer pulls a taser, everybody's body cameras automatically cut on," Hulsey said.
Aside from the additional 16 tasers, Hulsey said the agreement allows for the purchase of 25 body cameras and 20 dash cameras. The tasers and body cameras are expected to be delivered within the next month. Hulsey said the dash cameras could arrive sometime in January due to a backorder.
While the City Council approved the spending of $402,000 to acquire the equipment, the Flowery Branch Police Department has applied for a $50,000 grant that would go toward the purchase. If the city receives the grant, the total cost will be reduced to $352,000.
"Just a huge shout out to our city council and city manager," Hulsey said. "This is something that we have talked about for the last three or four years."
