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Body cameras for Kenton Co. cops won't cost cent

Posted at 8:16 PM, Mar 24, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-25 09:48:59-04

COVINGTON, Ky. - The Kenton County Police Department will soon have body cameras for all its officers.

It will cost about $30,000 to equip all the officers, but it won't cost the county a cent.

Half the cost was covered by a reputable businessman and benefactor, Chief Spike Jones said.

"A gentleman by the name of John Topits, a business owner from Covington, graciously supported to float half of the cost of these devices for our department," Jones said.

The other half, you could say was, came from some less savory people.

"It came from our local drug dealers from money that we seized that was forfeited by the courts to this department. We thought, 'What better way to use that money,'" said Jones.

Jones explained why Kenton County police will soon be patrolling with the body cameras.

"It's becoming more and more an essential piece of equipment for law enforcement and we want to make sure that we're equipped as we need to be equipped," Jones said. "We're excited about having them and the officers are excited about having them as well."

Body cameras capture everything that happens in front of them.

 "Not only is it evidence collection for officers on the road, but it's also protection for our officers," Jones said. "You know, in a former life in the city of Covington, we deployed them on the street and all too often they were used to refute claims that our officers had acted inappropriately."

All the cameras are here and Jones says he hopes to have everyone trained and all of them deployed by the end of May.

Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the cost of the body cameras.