Spanish Fort’s City Council voted last week to approve new policies and procedures that would govern the Spanish Fort Police Department’s use of body cameras.

Spanish Fort Mayor Mike McMillan said the policy voted on last week would be beneficial to all area residents.

“These are tools that we are using that will help protect our officers and our citizens,” McMillan said. “By using cutting edge technology, we can better ensure safety for everyone involved.”

At a council meeting in July, McMillan told council members that $16,000 had been budgeted for body cameras for this fiscal year, but Police Chief David Edgar said the proposal he brought the council would come in below that.

“The proposal here is for $14,320 and that includes 16 body cameras,” Edgar said.

Edgar said his department considered several options for body cameras, but found the option he presented to the council had several features that were in line with what he felt they needed.

“It can record video even if the record button isn’t pressed,” Egdar said. “If the officer does not push the record button, for up to 24 hours after, you can go back and capture the video because it’s holding it in a buffer.”

Edgar said that while the buffer hold capacity doesn’t record audio, having the video of a particular call or event could still be useful. He added that the cameras would pair well with the department’s existing technologies.

“It’s a version of the video system we currently use in our cars, so it integrates well with that system,” Edgar said.

Edgar said the one downside to the cameras he was proposing was the short battery life.

“They only last about nine hours,” Edgar said. “There are other options that have a longer battery life, but they don’t record continuously.”

McMillan said of the options the city had before them, these cameras were likely their best option.

“We haven’t found the perfect camera at this point,” McMillan said. “We’ve looked at this issue for a long time, but there’s not one out there that fits every need we have.”