Elliott Group steps up to pay for Jeannette police camera lease for 2 years

The cost of dash and body cameras for the Jeannette Police Department will be paid for by Elliott Group for the first two years of a five-year lease.

The donation was a surprise to city officials, who discussed this week adding the measure of protection for $15,700 annually. Council on Thursday approved an agreement with Motorola Solutions.

“There’s no doubt that the Elliott company are angels among us,” Mayor Curtis Antoniak said.

Police Chief Donald Johnston Jr. brought the request to council in an effort to protect police and residents as well as bolster criminal cases and deter potentially violent encounters. The agreement includes six dash cams for patrol units and six body cameras for officers. The $15,700 annual cost includes data storage.

After the five years is up, the city will own the cameras and can pay a reduced rate for data storage. Antoniak said he learned Thursday about the donation from Elliott Group.

Chief fiscal officer Ethan Keedy had freed up $9,000 in the department’s 2022 budget and was looking for an additional $6,000 to foot the bill. On Friday, he said that extra several thousand dollars was going to be tough to find.

“We are very blessed and fortunate to have them part of the community and wanting to continue to give back to the community,” he said. “It’s a huge burden off the city.”

It’s not the first time Elliott Group has made a donation to the police department. Last year, the company chipped in $11,000 toward the cost of a new police dog patrol unit that was funded solely by community donations.

The lease agreement comes with a 90-day trial of license plate readers.

The cameras will be synced with lights on the police cars and the body units will turn on automatically, Johnston said earlier this week, adding that the body-worn units eventually could become mandatory.

Seven states, including New Jersey and Maryland, mandate the use of body-worn cameras by law enforcement officers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The federal Department of Justice announced in September it is requiring federal agents to use body cameras during preplanned operations.

Eric Slavin, the city’s insurance agent, said the cameras can help reduce potential lawsuits.

“Anything you can do to mitigate the risk is a good idea,” he said.