The Juneau Assembly voted to approve more than $19,000 in funding for body cameras for the city’s police force on Monday.
Deputy Mayor Jerry Nankervis, who served as a Juneau officer, was the only assembly member to vote against the proposal.
Juneau Dep. Mayor Nankervis: “There’s some privacy issues I have concerns with, this body has heard me speak about privacy issues before and my concern about our intrusion into people’s lives where maybe we shouldn’t be and I have a serious concern with body cameras. I also have a serious concern for prosecution reasons with body cameras and that is that there is an expectation that every interaction will be recorded. And when it’s not, then perhaps the officer’s version of that interaction is inaccurate.”
Police Chief Bryce Johnson said the cameras will do more good than harm.
Johnson: “What the camera will do is actively record what the officer was seeing. And there’s, I suggest, great benefit in that to the department and to the public for a host of different reasons.”
The assembly voted to appropriate the money from asset forfeiture funds Monday. The money will be in addition to a $25,000 grant the U.S. Department of Justice awarded the police department last month for the purchase of 40 body cameras.
The discussion on using body cameras has been heard around the state. Kenai Police began trying out different models since around July 2015 and Soldotna Police adopted the technology in September 2015.