Bonifay Police Dept. proposes cars and cams

HANNAH COLLINS | The Advertiser

During the Bonifay City Council Meeting on October 7, council members approved the purchase of new police body cameras and two new police vehicles for the Bonifay Police Department. Chief of Police Johnny Whitaker requested these cameras and police vehicles, citing the need for new equipment for safety reasons. 

“When you look at the wear and tear of city vehicles that have been crashed multiple times over five years, at some point it becomes a safety issue.” Whitaker explained. The new vehicles will be fully outfitted police cars and will cost around $139,000. Whitaker plans to implement a vehicle rotation system so that the department does not have to purchase all new vehicles at once. By purchasing two vehicles now, the older models can be rotated out or donated to the water and sewer department to maintain good city vehicles as needed. 

The body cameras are a separate issue. Seven cameras were originally donated by the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office and are still currently under contract with Axon. However, Chief Whitaker stated that he’s unable to upload evidence videos to evidence.com due to the existing contract. Chief Whitaker explained that the issue would be easier to solve by signing a new contract, as the signatures on the preexisting one could not be switched over to the Bonifay Police Department for them to utilize the cameras. He further explained it is easier to purchase new cameras and upgrade so that everything is logged correctly by the police department. Axon has packages tailored to smaller departments and offered a deal to the department, costing them around $28,500 for the new cameras.