Council approves financing plan to purchase police body cameras, in-car cameras

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Jackson police officers will soon have new in-car cameras and body-worn cameras.

On Tuesday, the Jackson City Council approved a financing plan with Huntington Finance to lease the devices, which will allow the city to pay for them over the next three years.

The agreement was approved on a unanimous vote.

According to council documents, the city will pay $1,226,255 for the devices and for cloud storage, with the first $200,000 payment due on October 1.

The remaining three payments will each be $342,085 and be due on October 1, 2024, 2025, and 2026.

The agreement also includes a fixed proposal at the end of the financing term to allow the city to purchase the cameras for a dollar.

Jackson also received a quote from Fleetwood Financing, which would have cost the city an additional $70,000.

The council approved purchasing the cameras and cloud storage from Metrix Solutions at a meeting in August.

The total cost for the devices and support equipment was around $1,141,000. The financing plan will add an additional 4.28 percent to the cost.

The purchase includes 131 in-car video cameras, which cost around $3,778 apiece, and 270 digital camcorders that cost $117 each.

The contract also comes with camera docking stations, camera mounts, and equipment warranties.

“When I met with the rank-and-file officers, they talked about having resources to do the job,” said Chief Joseph Wade. “This is another step for JPD to move forward technology-wise, to give our officers the resources and the tools they need to do their jobs.”

It was not known when the devices would be received by the city or installed.

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