The Soldotna Police Department saw an increase by a little over $50,000 in the General Fund to cover the cost of in-car cameras. This appropriation was approved at Wednesday night’s Soldotna City Council meeting.
Ordinance 2020-024, introduced by City Manager Stephanie Queen, enacted the change in the budget effective immediately upon its enactment.
Queen offered her thoughts about how important it is for the city to offer the funding: “This is a project that we’ve identified for several years as a potential need to replace 11 of the 13 in-car cameras within the Soldotna Police Department. Chief Mlynarik has indicated that we’ve been searching for public safety grants to fund these but have not identified a funding source. Last year, it was included in the state legislature. It got picked up in the capitol project list, but ultimately was vetoed. At this point, we think it’s a need and a priority and are requesting funding from the general fund to move forward with that purchase.”
In a memo to the council from Soldotna Police Chief Peter Mlynarik, he noted that the Soldotna Police Department uses in-car cameras in their thirteen marked police vehicles, capturing activity in front of the vehicles when emergency lights are activated, while also recording events that body cameras are unable to capture. His memo said that all but two of the thirteen cameras are at least ten years old, with some beginning to show mechanical issues. The lowest bid for the equipment, according to Mlynarik, was $50,820.
The ordinance passed unanimously.