SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Police Department is requesting upgrades to two of its critical tools: guns and dash cameras.
SAPD provided a briefing to the city’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday to replace existing duty guns and upgrade its in-car video system that could include cloud-based storage, linking/activating systems of other nearby officers, and integration with officer’s body cameras.
According to city documents, buying new handguns would cost $2.1 million, but $508,500 would be offset from the officer retention program where police officers can buy their on-duty weapon. The net cost to the city is $1.6 million which is available in their already-approved budget.
The cost of the new in-car video system is unclear as the city is currently hearing proposals from two different companies, AXON and COBAN Technologies. SAPD installed COBAN vehicle-mounted cameras in police vehicles back in October 2010.
In-car video system
According to the presentation from San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, some of the challenges with the current video system include manual labeling of video, videos uploaded wirelessly only while at the substations and vehicle hard drives fill up due to incomplete uploads.
“The transparency is there but the technology makes it easier to use,” Police Chief William McManus told KENS 5.
SAPD says it’s currently testing the AXON and COBAN systems. Some of the upgrades SAPD would like include cloud-based options to equip police patrol vehicles with mobile video and voice recording equipment and the ability to upload video during the shift to the end of the shift.
Once SAPD picks a vendor, SAPD says it will bring its recommendation to the full city council for approval.
Members of the public safety committee including Councilman Clayton Perry wanted a breakdown of the cost for the upgrades first.
Handguns
San Antonio Police is recommending a Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun to replace its existing .40 caliber handguns for all 3,100 law enforcement personnel, including SAPD, Airport Police, Park Police and the San Antonio Fire Department Arson detail.
City documents state their handguns are due for replacement in early 2023. San Antonio is currently the only major Texas city using the .40 caliber handgun.
“As far as the guns we want to make sure the police officers have the best equipment to do what they need to do, of course we hope they never need them, but we want them to be safe and we want the community to be safe,” Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda, chair of the public safety committee told KENS 5.
Officers will also have the option to buy their on-duty weapon, and SAPD estimates 2,300 officers will do that. Weapons not purchased by officers will be destroyed by the city.
As part of the transition, officers will be required to take an 8-hour in-service training class.
SAPD says this item will be brought to city council for approval in October 2022.