ASHLAND, Ore. — The Ashland Police Department is upgrading its tasers and body cameras.
Ashland City Council approved the police department getting the new equipment and gave them $354,000 over 5 years to do it.
Last week, Chief Tighe O’Meara says he went back to council requesting the technology come from one company called “Axon Inc.”
He says it’s the only company that has a unique feature: if the taser is activated, all of the body cameras within a 30-meter radius automatically turn on and capture what’s happening.
“That assurance that the camera is going to get turned on when the conducted energy weapon gets activated is very important because sometimes in the heat of the moment the officer won’t have the time to manually turn it on,” said Chief Tighe O’Meara, Ashland Police Department.
Chief O’Meara says the tasers would also have a yellow color, so they will not be confused with a lethal weapon.
He says the department will find out on Wednesday night if the contract with the company will move forward.
He estimates the tasers will take a few months to get.
They hope to get the body cameras by early 2020.
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