Cost For Nashville Police Body Cameras Keeps Adding Up

The cost of equipping Nashville police officers with body cameras continues to rise as officials calculate additional behind-the-scenes expenses.

The latest addition could come from the Public Defender’s Office, which is requesting $895,000 per year to hire attorneys to review all of the footage expected to come in from body cams.

In a budget hearing this week, Public Defender Martesha Johnson said her attorneys are already under a time crunch to study and prepare cases before going to court. The new footage will demand more time, but Johnson doesn’t want court cases delayed, which would force clients to sit in jail longer.

“You will certainly hear me saying, ‘We are being ineffective,’ if you expect me to be able to have any court proceeding where I know evidence exists in my client’s case, and I have not examined it to appropriately,” she told Mayor David Briley.

The mayor had asked for an estimate of costs related to body cameras, which are scheduled for deployment to Nashville police this summer. Officers have been field testing the equipment over the past 90 days. Police Chief Steve Anderson says the department has narrowed the possible camera suppliers down to three vendors. 

That follows delays and increasing costs. Metro has estimated it will take $39 million to equip 1,400 police officers, plus millions of dollars more each year to run a video operations center with 30 employees.

The additional costs impact several departments, especially police, the Public Defender’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office.

WPLN reporter Meribah Knight contributed to this report.