The Bellefonte Police Department will be wearing body cameras as soon as the end of the month. The department will purchase 11 cameras — one for each officer — and signed a five-year contract for storage. Total cost is expected to be around $25,000.

The Centre County District Attorney’s office is putting $15,000 toward the purchase. Those funds came from drug forfeiture proceeds.

Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna presented a $15,000 check to Bellefonte Mayor Tom Wilson and borough council president Joanne Tosti-Vasey at Monday night’s borough council meeting.

Bellefonte is one of the final departments in Centre County to get body cameras. Ferguson, Patton and Spring townships have been using them since 2018. State College Police began using body cameras in July 2019.

CHRIS MORELLI/THE EXPRESS Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna addresses Bellefonte Borough Council at Monday night’s meeting. Cantorna presented the borough with a $15,000 check toward police body cameras.

“Bellefonte comes online and the sheriff’s office will finish up in June and we’ll have every agency in the county — except for Penn State — that has some type of either car camera or body camera,” Cantorna said. “This is critical to what we do in the courthouse, it’s critical for proving cases and it’s critical for addressing whether something did or didn’t happen.”

Cantorna and Bellefonte Police Chief Shawn Weaver have been lobbying for the body cameras for more than a year. Weaver said that he was happy to finally get the purchase approved.

“It can be frustrating whenever the funds just aren’t there. Just like in your day-to-day household. If you need something and you don’t have the money for it … it’s huge to have the assistance that we got from the DA. It’s still optional, but it’s not a luxury item anymore. It has many, many uses,” Weaver said.

Weaver said that officers in neighboring departments view the body cameras as a critical piece of equipment.

“(An officer) said that of everything they buy every year, if the body camera broke … they would definitely spend that money and get them again,” he said.

According to Cantorna, body cameras provide crucial information for prosecution and build accountability for local law enforcement.

“From a police chief standpoint, they like it because when there are complaints, they can go right to the footage and look at it. Most of our chiefs are sharing videos of minor incidents where there are citizen’s complaints with the people who are making it and that usually ends the inquiry. The bottom line is that it adds a level of integrity to the legal system that’s important if we’re going to have the trust and the confidence of the public,” Cantorna said.

Weaver said that the addition of body cameras helps officers do their jobs.

“It will change the way we do business. These cameras are always on. Try being on the show ‘Big Brother’ or ‘Survivor’ … having a camera on you all day. You can turn them on and off, but if you’re on a call and it’s not rolling, you better have a better good reason,” Weaver said.

Weaver said that the cameras will be ordered soon. Once they arrive, there is a training period that will last 30 to 45 days. Bellefonte Police Department Sgt. Jason Brower will be writing policy and be responsible for training.

“Optimistically, we’re hoping by the end of the month we’ll get everybody trained and up and running,” Brower said.

There are still some law enforcement entities that do not have body cameras, Cantorna said. Pennsylvania State Police have dash cams in cars, but troopers only wear microphones, not cameras. Penn State Police officers do not wear microphones or cameras. Is that something that could be in the works?

“You’d have to talk to Penn State,” Cantorna said, matter-of-factly. “It is a significant outlay of funds and Penn State has a police force that goes all the way from Erie to Philadelphia.”