Port Orchard police are going to be wearing body cameras recording their actions on the job — possibly as soon as December.

Training in the use of new tasers also will be a part of that.

The City Council voted Oct. 11 to amend the Policies and Procedures for Processing Public Records Requests to include recordings from body cameras, which are part of the new Body Worn Video program.

The program will involve police wearing body cameras on the job that will capture recordings, which could later be requested as public records. Passing the resolution, Mayor Rob Putaansuu said, was key to help move the program along.

“We’re in the process of implementing and getting those (cameras) out on the streets,” he said, “and we need to have these policies and procedures in place before we go live with that.”

The resolution includes fees for the recordings, which need to be reviewed and redacted if a public records request is made. Law enforcement in Spokane, Seattle and Tacoma, among others, conducted “stopwatch style” time studies that show a large consumption of staff time dedicated to the reviewing and redaction process.

Putaansuu said the cameras could be on the streets as soon as December, but further steps need to be completed.

“There’s new tasers to go with this as part of the equipment, and so there’s training going on for that,” he said.

The council also OK’d the purchase of some new police vehicles from Arizona. The department has traditionally purchased vehicles from a Washington state agency. However, the car ordered for the 2022 fiscal year was canceled by Ford Motor Co.

New state requirements also prevented Port Orchard from replacing a number of aging vehicles in a timely manner. Police Chief Matt Brown said because of that their next window for purchasing in this state would be ordering in 2024.

Putaansuu said with the new agreement, “Not only are we going to save time, I understand that these vehicles might cost us less money also.”