LADY LAKE, FL (352today.com) – The Lady Lake Police Department (LLPD) is catching up with many of its law enforcement counterparts in North Central Florida.
The Lady Lake Police Department announced on Wednesday that it has outfitted its officers with body cameras, technology they say is aimed at protecting both law enforcement officers and the community.
“When I arrived, I noticed we were lacking something in the field of contemporary police work,” said Police Chief Steve Hunt.
Chief Hunt told the Town Commission that many agencies across the region use cameras and requested funding to purchase industry-standard Axon brand body cameras in the 2023-24 budget.
In addition to body cameras, the commission approved funding to upgrade outdated TASERs and add a dash cam system to all police vehicles. That is scheduled to happen later this spring.
“Bundling the technology and maintenance will save the Town significant money over time,” said the Town of Lady Lake in a news release.
The cost for the body cam bundle, which includes the evidence management system, TASERS and maintenance, is $442,651.22 over five years. While the price tag for the dash cams is $424,327.03 over five years.
In making his case to commissioners, Chief Hunt expressed the importance these tools provide in improving “accountability, evidence management, and officer behavior modification.” Ultimately, the chief says he hopes that leads to increased trust in the community.
“Video is able to show the event as it transpired through the eyes of the police officer,” Hunt explained. “It is important to capture interactions as they actually occurred for the sake of investigations, training and transparency.”
The town says the evidence management software can play a crucial role in investigations.
“The software proved to be a valuable tool in a recent armed robbery where surveillance video from a store was directly uploaded into system and later shared with the public,” the Town said.
That robbery happened just before 10 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 10, at the Circle K/Sunoco gas station at 413 S U.S. Highway 27/441. Police are still searching for the person captured on camera.
“The approval of the purchase of this equipment demonstrates the Commission and the Lady Lake Police Department’s commitment to uphold modern policing standards and ensure the safety and well-being of our officers and the community,” said Chief Hunt.