Cloquet approves body camera grant, questions long-term costs

Cloquet city councilors took a step toward purchasing body-worn cameras and new stun guns by voting to accept a $38,000 grant Tuesday night, but acknowledged if they go through with the purchase, it will mean significant expense to the city and its taxpayers.

If approved, the estimated cost of a package deal for body-worn cameras — which the department doesn’t have — and new stun guns to replace the almost obsolete equipment used now, is more than $205,000 over five years, with the grant money included. At the end of the five years, the department would own 24 new cameras and stun guns, covering the entire department.

Cloquet police chief Derek Randall said the package deal will make the purchases more affordable for the city and make the department a more modern police force. The department could also apply for more grants.

If the council decides to go ahead with the contract, it will raise taxes, if the costs are not offset by other decreases.

City administrator Tim Peterson said the grant would allow the city to increase the levy slowly, by between 1 percent and 1.5 percent the first couple of years and 2 percent in Year 3 to get to the point where the city could cover the entire cost for Years 3-5.

The police chief believes it’s worth it.

“Tasers are one of our only less lethal tools,” Randall told the council, stressing that the stun guns need to be replaced no matter what because they are so old. “Should the Taser fail, the next option could be lethal force with our handguns.”

Reasons for getting cameras include increased transparency and the fact that it’s the expected standard now. Almost all other area law enforcement agencies already have body-worn cameras, including the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office, he said.

Randall read a letter from county attorney Lauri Ketola in support of purchasing the body-worn cameras. “As prosecutors, there’s significant evidentiary value provided with body cam footage, which often results in fewer challenges to evidence, which in turn promotes quicker resolution of criminal matters, saving time and expense to law enforcement,” Ketola wrote.

Studies have shown that citizen complaints go down with body-worn cameras, and so do “use of force” incidents by law enforcement. The camera turns on automatically when the stun gun is activated.

In studies, Randall wrote, body-worn cameras have led to decreased litigation and increased cost savings. Case studies show complaints were down by 88 percent and use of force down by 75 percent.

Other advantages of the cameras include embedded GPS systems, plus the department could store the videos from squad cars and body-worn cameras in the same unlimited online storage system.

The council voted 7-0 to accept the grant, leaving the final decision on purchasing the equipment for a future meeting.

“I think it’s important to have a plan, obviously, going forward,” said Ward 3 councilor Chris Swanson. “We need to have options for our police officers. And we need to make sure that the people that are dealing with them are held accountable as well as having accountability on the police’s side as well in this day and age. That seems to be more and more necessary.”

Also Tuesday, councilors tabled a vote on a transient merchant license for MarksMan Trading Post at 227 1/2 Highway 33 North. The gun and collectibles store had proposed holding a farmers and/or flea market in the parking lot once a month on Fridays from June through September. Councilors asked for more information about what exactly would be sold outside, expressing reservations about any firearm sales outside the store.

Street construction begins

Construction on the next part of the 14th Street project in Cloquet is set to begin next Monday, May 16.

According to assistant city engineer John Anderson, the road will close from Washington Avenue north to Prospect Avenue on Monday for a full replacement of the street and underlayers, including the replacement of water and sewer lines by the city.

Ulland Brothers will keep the intersections at Washington and Doddridge avenues open until school gets out. There will be a marked detour route taking drivers down Carlton Avenue to Highway 33, then to Washington Avenue.

Work on the roundabout at Washington is scheduled to be completed before school starts again in September, Anderson said.

Once Phase 1 work is done, Ulland will shift work south, from Washington Avenue to Tall Pine Lane. The full street is not being replaced in Phase 2; rather, workers will grind up the current pavement and mix it with underlying material before repaving over the top of that.

The county will finish the work this summer with a pavement reclamation project from Tall Pine to the Interstate 35 bridge.

“At the end of this summer, 14th will be repaved from Cloquet Avenue to Interstate 35,” Anderson said, adding that the city will be sending notices to people who live adjacent to the construction project later this week.