Brunswick Hills to replace police equipment such as Tasers and body cameras

BRUNSWICK HILLS TWP. — Brunswick Hills trustees approved a purchase order to Axon for approximately $314,000 in new equipment such as Tasers and body cameras for the police department on Tuesday. Police Chief Tim Sopkovich said the police department saved its carryover money for the past few years, which can now go to replacing outdated equipment. For instance, the department's Tasers are around 9 years old. "The life expectancy on those was five years," he said. "Right now, we're having major issues with replacing batteries. It's just one of those electronic items that should have been replaced a long time ago, but we've been holding it off because they are quite expensive." The department's 15 Tasers would be upgraded to a new model, Sopkovich said. The newest model of Taser has multiple cartridges and is around the same size as the department's current Tasers. Brunswick Hills' current body cameras were purchased in 2019. He said at the time, he purchased the most affordable cameras, but there have been problems with the camera's battery life and the buttons sticking. "We've had several cameras that have been taken out of service and back in service, so it's been very difficult," Sopkovich said. Therefore, all the department's body cameras are being replaced, he said. The new cameras are estimated to ship in June. Axon will also replace and upgrade the camera system in police cars and the interview room, Sopkovich said. The price for video editing redaction software is also included in the purchase order. "I have another free program that I have to go through frame by frame, but with the Axon editing program that's included, I just pick a face, pick an object, and I can blur it out," he said. "It will save me a lot of time." The state passed House Bill 315, which allows municipalities to introduce a fee to cover costs associated with inspecting, redacting and editing requested police video records. Sopkovich said Brunswick Hills does not intend to introduce a fee to access its body camera footage at this time. "I don't want to make it a business," he said. "It's a public record. People want to see what we're doing. I have no problem sharing that." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.