Could Bartow police be next to wear body cameras? They're among a list of improvements

Bartow could be the next city in Polk County to equip its police officers with body-worn cameras.

Among the topics former Bartow Police Chief Andy Ray and City Manager Mike Herr discussed during the chief’s brief time leading the city department was the potential to equip officers with body cameras – possibly within the next 18 months.

Herr said financial aspects of a two-year plan to improve public safety in Bartow will come as soon as the 2025-26 city spending plan, which eventually could include body cameras for sworn officers.

“I support body cameras,” Herr said in a recent phone interview. “I think the body cameras are very useful. I think they can be useful in documenting the truth in different situations that officers and citizens may find themselves in.”

In his previous tenure as city manager in Winter Haven, Herr oversaw the issuance of body cameras to the police force among other ways to bolster public safety, including sign-on bonuses to recruit law enforcement officers where vacancies existed.

“The body camera I think can be an important tool for helping to investigate, to determine the facts of a situation, to determine if an officer acted appropriately or inappropriately," he said.

“So then, if it's appropriate, then OK. If it's inappropriate, then we have to evaluate what needs to happen with respect to the action that we take with respect to the officer’s behavior versus the behavior of the citizen.”

Before his departure, Ray delivered a two-year business plan on April 1 to the City Commission for the police department. Among the bullet points were several suggestions to increase accountability. But he did not mention any specifics such as body cameras.

He wrote some examples of stepped up accountability in his report. For example, the chief said he had to dismiss an officer who was hired before Ray got there because the new hire failed to meet standards during the probationary period, as he was under investigation by another agency in a non-criminal matter. Ray also said that Deputy Chief Stephen Walker had disciplined officers who failed to show up in traffic court.

It was after his presentation that Mayor Leo E. Longworth turned to Herr to ask whether body cameras would be considered. Herr said he thought they were a good idea.

By phone after the meeting, Herr said body cameras could end up as part of upcoming budget, but it was too early to say whether matching grant funds would be possible or if the city’s general fund could pay for them.

He has asked Walker and other city administrators to find out if grants were available.

Public Safety Budget

While accountability was a separate category within Ray’s presentation, his two-year plan focused on several findings and improvements to public safety with fiscal implications.

For one, he wanted to narrow the pay gap between Bartow’s police officers and other agencies throughout the county such as the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Lakeland. He found other agencies offered police officers between $7,000 to $14,000 more annually than Bartow, and some agencies offer sign-on bonuses.

Herr said he had asked Ray for a two-year plan because he had only committed to two years in the post, and because it is the right timeframe when budgeting, especially for public safety.

He called Ray’s plan “very thorough, and it addresses things that are really important to the City Commission and to me as city manager.

Ray also identified numerous vacancies on the force, the need for better pay for police officers and others such as the communications department.

Ray’s presentation to the commission showed that nine sworn officers and six civilian vacancies currently exist among 48 and 28 positions, respectively. The overtime that patrol officers and telecommunications staff are working is unsustainable, he said.

“And so, in return I have asked our HR director to develop a policy and to look at some best practices of other cities in Polk or outside of Polk County where final bonuses have been used as a recruitment tool.

Herr supported Ray’s suggested raises.

“I suspect that you're going to see those adjustments in my proposed budget to the City Commission," he said.

Ray has recommended a 13.5% raise for police officers and bringing up telecommunications staff to $15 per hour.

He also gave the following recommendations:

• Offer a new-hire signing bonus of $3,000.

• A recruiting bonus for officers of $1,000.

• Increase starting salary three steps from $48,416 to $54,710.

• Increase all sworn salaries by equivalent to avoid salary compression.

• Increase civilian salaries to $15 per hour and PSA salaries to $15.50 per hour.

• Find a solution for high health insurance premiums for employees with family.

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Ray wrote that the Sheriff’s Office’s starting pay is currently $56,771 and is set to increase to $61,000 soon. The Sheriff's Office is planning to hire an additional 125 deputies this year, and for the next four years. They have 52 people in academy training now.

The Lakeland Police Department’s salary currently starts at $59,000. Plant City’s is the same as Lakeland.Winter Haven’s starting salary is $54,200, and Auburndale’s is $53,818.

Steps toward body cameras

“We really have not had an in-depth discussion about the possibilities of body cameras,” Herr said by phone. “It did come up in some of my individual conversations, when the chief and I would meet and we would meet often to discuss the happenings in the police department and, you know, daily issues and things like that.”

Herr said he would expect the city agency to understand what’s needed from a technology standpoint and make sure the department is trained on the use of body cameras.

“And fundamentally, I wanted to make sure that the officers were supportive of body cameras, and as I recall they were in Winter Haven,” he said.

“Now, we haven't had that discussion with our police officers that I know of,” Herr said. “I know that I have not had that conversation and probably, you know, in this transition to Deputy Chief Walker being the officer in charge, we have not initiated that conversation.

“I have faith in the honesty and integrity of our police officers, and I believe they would support body cameras,” Herr said, adding he plans to talk with them soon.

Community policing

Another of Ray’s recommendations is to adopt a “community policing” approach to public safety that combines COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) with “data-driven policing and problem-oriented policing.”

He also stressed the importance of including several city departments for improving public safety, including code enforcement, solid waste, public works and the fire department.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Body cameras, pay raises among ideas for improving Bartow Police Dept.