Marysville Police officers will all wear body cameras beginning next year, thanks to a five-year contract unanimously approved by the Marysville City Council on Nov. 8. The $1.3 million contract with AXON also includes new tasers and an evidence storage system. 

“This investment in body-worn cameras demonstrates the Marysville City Council’s commitment to public safety,” Council President Kamille Norton said.   

In late September the Police department began a body cam pilot project with several patrol and custody officers testing the AXON equipment. By capturing interactions in real time, body-worn cameras “provide an accurate, neutral accounting of the encounter. This allows for full transparency and provides additional protections for the community member(s) and the officer(s),” Assistant Police Chief Jim Lawless wrote in his recommendation to the Council. 

Among the several criminal justice reform bills passed by the State Legislature this year were requirements documenting use of force and recording custodial interrogations. Body-worn cameras provide the most effective and efficient mean to meet these requirements, Lawless wrote. 

The new tasers offer a less-lethal force option to officers and will replace the department’s current inventory that is beyond its serviceable life and no longer supported. The TASER 7 model acts in tandem with the body cams by automatically activating all body-worn cameras in the immediate area and capturing the event 30 seconds prior to activation with built-in buffering capabilities. Camera footage is directly loaded to and processed by Evidence.com.