CENTERVILLE—On Nov. 18 the Centerville City Council approved a significant investment in the Centerville Police Department’s equipment, allocating nearly $126,000 to purchase new body-worn cameras and patrol rifles. The measure includes $87,913.75 for the body camera system and $38,382 for the new firearms.

The department began using body cameras in 2008, with each officer being issued their own body camera around 2010. However, those original cameras have reached their operational limit.

Lt. Will Barnes, who presented the requests to the council, detailed the urgency of the body camera replacement in a memo. The department’s current cameras are approximately eight to 10 years old, he said. More critically, the devices have been discontinued by the manufacturer, Motorola, which is no longer supporting this brand with software or hardware. 

The aging equipment has led to frequent failures and malfunctions. To keep the program running, Centerville has had to rely on used equipment.

“We have been able to obtain several used cameras from surrounding agencies that were no longer using that system,” Barnes told the council. “This has allowed us to limp our camera program along, but we will soon run out of working cameras.”

The nature of police work demands rugged equipment as the cameras are “subjected to the extreme conditions of daily wear on the officer’s uniforms,” Barnes’ memo stated. Additionally video evidence collected must be downloaded and saved in a manner consistent with stringent chain of custody and retention standards and policies.

The new purchase will consist of 23 body cameras from Motorola Solutions, a brand that offers a product line similar to the department’s previous models. These new devices are expected to integrate smoothly with the department’s existing video storage infrastructure. Dash cameras, another component of the department’s video system, will be replaced on a phased basis as new patrol vehicles are acquired.

In addition to the cameras, the council approved the purchase of 22 patrol rifles and accompanying suppressors. This acquisition, budgeted for in the FY26 cycle which allocated $45,000 for the firearms, comes with a total cost of $38,382. The old rifles will be traded in to the dealer for a credit, reducing the overall expense.

The Centerville Police Department issues these rifles to officers for patrol duties, primarily for situations demanding increased capability. Rifles “provide superior firepower in the event of encountering an armed and violent subject,” Barnes’ memo said.

The department maintains a total of 22 rifles, 20 of which are issued to officers and two kept as spares. More than half of these firearms are estimated to be about 15 years old, with most being at least a decade old, Barnes told the council at the Nov. 18 meeting. A memo from the department’s armorers strongly recommended a complete replacement.

During the council discussion, Councilmember Robyn Mecham asked how long the new rifles would last. They tend to have a long life, Barnes said.  

“The ones that we have now are the ones that we purchased the first time before we had any,” he said. “We think that first batch could be 15 years old.”

The new rifles, typically an AR-15 platform firing a 5.56mm (.223 caliber) round, are expected to last between five and 10 years.

Councilmember Spencer Summerhays raised the idea of rotating the rifles out each year rather than replacing the entire inventory at once.  The department’s armorers were considering a similar long-term strategy, Barnes said. 

“They felt like if we could just start with a baseline of, ‘Hey, let’s just switch them all out now and start with all new ones, then we’ll keep better track and then start on a rotation process like that going forward,’” he said.

Historically, the suppressors included have been issued to SWAT officers, but the new purchase will allow for broader use of the equipment across the patrol division, Barnes said.