In an age of increased awareness toward police actions, Holmes Beach is taking steps to increase transparency on the force.
City commissioners voted 5-0 May 11 to approve a $178,918 5-year agreement with Texas-based WatchGuard Video and Illinois-based Motorola Solutions to purchase vehicle and body cameras.
Tokajer proposed purchasing the cameras during the 2020-21 budget process and negotiated the deal.
The agreement will provide body cams for 17 officers at the Holmes Beach Police Department and 16 three-camera dash-cam vehicle systems — featuring a normal and wide-angle lens at the front of a vehicle and another camera focused on the rear seat for prisoner transportation.
Audio and video captured by the cameras will be maintained by WatchGuard Video and made available as public record until its deal with the city expires, at which point all records would transfer to the city.
Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer told The Islander in a May 12 interview that the cameras would protect officers and the city from false malpractice or liability claims and provide an additional level of transparency.
HBPD already uses dashboard cameras to collect footage of crime scenes, but Tokajer called the existing camera systems “outdated” and recommended their replacement, in addition to the new body cameras.
“Adding the body cameras will just add another view of what’s been already taped by the vehicle camera,” Tokajer said. “We have had false claims in the past, and we’ve always been able to go to our car camera footage to show that the claim was untrue. …This gives us extra protection.”
He said WatchGuard Video could install the new camera systems within the next two months, but nothing was scheduled as of May 13.
The city will pay $35,783.60 annually for five years until it can decide between allowing the deal to expire and renegotiating or renewing the lease.
The city’s first payment to WatchGuard is scheduled for April 1, 2022.
Commissioner Carol Soustek supported the agreement but said it is “a shame” the city had to go to such lengths to protect itself from false claims and liability.
Soustek moved to approve the agreement.
Commissioner Terry Schaefer seconded the motion, which passed.
HBPD funding
Resident Alec Graham, recently appointed to the city’s parks and beautification committee, questioned the size of the city’s police force during public comment May 11.
Reading from a May 11 letter to the city, Graham said that despite similar populations, Longboat Key has 20 officers to cover 16 square miles while HBPD has 17 officers to cover 2 square miles. He asked why so many officers are needed to police such a small city.
“Either Longboat Key is understaffed or we’re overstaffed,” he said. “My guess is the latter.”
Graham said HBPD takes up too much of the city’s annual budget and suggested the city cut costs by replacing some police vehicles with bicycles.
“Why do we need seven police vehicles, a rarely-used police boat and multiple beach vehicles?” Graham said. “Maybe considering police using bicycles would make sense. …This change would put officers more in touch with the community. … It would also kelp keep officers in better physical shape.”
Resident Pat Morton, a former city commissioner, said during public comment that Graham is “totally wrong.”
Morton said the city’s police force is proportional to the number of people visiting the municipality and credited HBPD officers for doing an excellent job.
Tokajer responded to Graham in a May 11 email, stating the city’s police force and vehicles are needed due to the rise in people in a tourist destination.
“We may have only 4,233 residents but we are policing the 20,000 to 50,000 people who live, rent, vacation and do business on the island daily,” Tokajer wrote.
Tokajer also pointed to the city’s higher arrest numbers as evidence of the rationale for HBPD’s police force and Longboat Key’s needs.
HBPD officers arrested 383 people in 2018 and 326 in 2019, while LBKPD officers arrested 60 in 2018 and 46 in 2019, according to Tokajer.
Tokajer added that requiring officers to use bicycles would reduce response times to emergencies.
“Not to even mention how an officer would be affected riding a bicycle with 20-30 extra pounds of police gear and bulletproof vests in 90-plus (temperatures),” he wrote.
Commissioner Terry Schaefer directed a comment to Graham that he believed Tokajer had addressed Graham’s concerns.