Twenty-eight new dash cameras for the Madison Police Department are on the way after funding in the amount of $70,000 came through for the force. (Record Photo/Nick Sellers)

By Nick Sellers | Staff Writer

MADISON – After receiving funding help from different entities within the City of Madison, the Madison Police Department will soon order 28 new dash cameras for the force’s fleet of cruisers.

At the City Council meeting on March 23, District 3 Councilman D.J. Klein confirmed the city’s engineering department, led by Gary Chynoweth, offered $40,000 from its budget to meet the costs of the dash cameras. The remaining $30,000 will come out of the Council’s special projects fund.

Usually $5,000 apiece, the City is getting a deal in purchasing the cameras for half the price.

“They’re an industrialized camera, like a rugged notebook,” Madison Police Chief Larry Muncey said.

Muncey said that all parts of the cruisers are regularly inspected, and that the department discovered some of the dash cameras were failing.

“We have cameras that have been around for seven years,” Muncey said. “They have come to their end-of-life.”

While the current cameras exist as one piece, Muncey said the new sets come with two cameras, one for each end of the cruiser. The new cameras will also have an embedded GPS tracking device.

“They have the wireless capability for things to be downloaded [from the cameras], as well,” Muncey said, remarking how far the technology has come since VHS tapes were used as recently as 10 years ago.

Muncey said the current cameras are automatically turned on when the cruisers reach a certain speed and when cruisers’ lights are activated, and that the 28 new ones will also have that capability.

“They’re pretty advanced technology,” he said.

The dash cameras, Muncey explained, also exist in the best interest of both the officers and the public.

“I think it’s a great thing for the city,” Muncey said. “These cameras are a key piece for our department.”