Police chief tells committee that body camera program is moving forward

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Friday, June 16, 2018 — The Bardstown Police Department is looking to have its officers equipped with body cameras within the next six months, according to Police Chief Kim Kraeszig.

CHIEF KIM KRAESZIG

At Thursday’s meeting of the Bardstown City Council’s Safety Committee, Chief Kraeszig said the Fiscal Year 2019 budget includes $20,000 to cover the cost of storing the body camera video. To manage the video body cameras create, the department plans to hire someone who will be the “go to” person to manage the hardware, software and video.

The job description for that position is currently being created, she said. That person will be in place before the police department launches its next step — a pilot program of three vendor’s cameras.

The new person hired will be involved in the pilot program, which Kraeszig explained would not be a lengthy one. The goal will simply be to give the department and its officers a chance to evaluate the performance, durability, and functionality of each brand’s camera.

“The sooner the better,” Kraeszig told the committee. “I just want to make sure its a solid program when we do it.”

BARDSTOWN FIRE UPDATE. Fire Chief Billy Mattingly updated the committee on plans to update the city ordinances governing the fire department’s ability to recover its costs on some of its runs involving people and vehicles from outside Bardstown and Nelson County.

The 2014 revision of the fire department ordinance created a fee schedule for extrications, hazmat situations, car and truck fires, rescues and other services the department’s personnel provide. Residents of Bardstown and Nelson County are not assessed the fees and will not be assessed the fee in the future.

CHIEF BILLY MATTINGLY

Mattingly said he would like to revise the fees and then partner with a company that will take care of the billing to the insurance companies of non-city/county residents who need fire department services.

The company has an 80 percent collection rate, and it performs its services for a 20 percent take of the recovered fees. The company handles all the billing and collection, which means fire department personnel do not have to spend time dealing with it.

The committee voted unanimously to recommend the council move forward with the recommended changes and partnering with the vendor to handle collections on behalf of the fire department.

FALSE ALARMS. Chief Mattingly and the committee also discussed the false alarm ordinance governing fire alarm systems in the city.

The ordinance allows each fire alarm owner to have two false alarms per year. The third false alarm triggers a $250 fee.

NEXT UP. The Safety Committee’s next regularly scheduled meeting is 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018.

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