SPD budget request seeks to expand video technology

Freedom of Information Act requests for Sarasota Police Department body camera videos have grown exponentially since the program was implemented in May 2021. To keep up with that volume and the workload required for fulfillment, the SPD has requested an additional body-worn camera records specialist for next fiscal year.

During last week’s budget workshop, Police Chief Rex Troche explained to city commissioners why one records specialist and a supervisor, the current staff assigned to the task, are not enough to keep up with the demand that the SPD is required to meet.

“In 2023 there were 571 requests for redacted video,” Troche said. “Each video has to be looked at minute by minute, and we put people in those positions who understand what needs to be redacted and what can be released. There's always a concern to make sure that we're not rushing this process with all these increasing requests for video, and that we're ensuring that we're redacting what we need to to avoid any type of litigation down the road."

The source of the increasing demand? A spokesperson for SPD told the Observer it is a combination of an influx of people who post videos to YouTube for financial gain, and the growth of the body-worn camera program in general. 

More available videos result in more requests for them. And like it or not, social media posters earn income for achieving certain thresholds of views, all courtesy of the city taxpayer. 

From calendar years 2021 to 2022, SPD fielded a 500% increase in request volume, largely because the program was gradually implemented beginning in May. The first full-year comparison from 2022 to 2023, though, brought another 121.3% increase. In all, there were 258 requests in calendar year 2022, 571 in 2023. Through July of this year there were 331.

Of all of those requests since 2022, 434 of them have been from enterprising social media posters.

Troche said he expects demand to continue to rise.

“They’re getting video they don't have to pay for per statute, and then they're putting it online on YouTube and various social media, and it's lucrative for them because they get the amount of hits and they make money off of it,” Troche said, "We're seeing that happen more and more and more.”

That budget issue carries an impact of $61,000 for compensation. 

The police department is also seeking an additional $690,518 to implement a Real-Time Operations Center with a mission to leverage existing technology to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement responses.

The request reads, “Further, it aims to improve officers’ ability to detect, disrupt, and prevent crime. This is accomplished through live monitoring of myriad law enforcement resources such as license plate readers, law enforcement databases, security cameras and data analysis tools.”

Implementation of the program requires one sworn supervisor and six civilian analysts for 24-hour coverage of the city. Of those, only four new hires will be needed because the SPD can reallocate a sergeant and two analysts to the task. 

“We have come to the point where we're trying to be even more efficient, and we can leverage our technology that's already out there, and we can solve crimes in real time,” Troche told commissioners. “That’s a game-changer in law enforcement like no other."

For example, when a call comes in for service, the analysts can dispatch officers to the location while tapping into more than 60 accessible cameras located throughout the city, providing them with real-time assessments of the situation before they arrive on the scene or track movements while in pursuit.

“They're letting the officers know what they're seeing in real time through the video,” Troche said. “It's really limited to your imagination and the expertise that we would need for these people to come on board. It will reduce crime immensely, our response time to crimes will be more efficient and officer safety, which is paramount for us, will be vastly improved just through those four positions.”

In all, an additional $293,126 is proposed for personnel and a capital expenditure of $397,392 for hardware and software.