Police chief lays out budget priorities: body cameras, Flock cameras, tasers and hybrid vehicles

Webster Groves Police Chief Vincent presented the department’s capital and equipment priorities at the May 19 council meeting, focusing on officer safety, training and tools that the department says improve investigative capability.

Chief Vincent described continued funding needs for body-worn cameras and in-car video systems, and said soft ballistic-vests must be cycled out on a multiyear schedule because vests typically last four to five years. The chief also detailed a request to maintain access to the city’s six Flock license-plate cameras and the contract renewal to preserve investigative benefits.

“We use this valuable tool every single day,” Chief Vincent said of the camera system, adding that the technology had helped detectives locate vehicles in a homicide investigation and aid in silver-alert searches for missing vulnerable adults.

The department also proposed replacing its conducted-energy devices, noting the current equipment was procured around 2012 and has reached end-of-life; the purchase is structured to spread payments over five years. Chief Vincent said officers removing a Taser from its holster often led to compliance without discharge in a prior year’s force reviews.

Fleet needs included funding for three hybrid patrol vehicles per year to maintain a 21-vehicle patrol fleet and reduce long-term operating costs. Council members questioned procurement timing, recurring replacement costs and whether regional facilities might supplement in-house MILO simulation training; the chief said in-house capacity is valuable because perishable public-safety skills require frequent training.

During questions the chief also explained asset-forfeiture proceeds and the constraints on spending them: equitable-sharing funds are intended to supplement, not replace, the municipal budget and may be reclaimed if underlying prosecutions are overturned. He said the department’s asset-forfeiture account currently holds “over $100,000.”