By Barbara Augsdorfer, editor for the Effingham Herald

The Rincon City Council approved a budget amendment for the police department at its regular meeting March 24 at the request of Chief Jonathon Murrell.

The additional funds were requested so the department could purchase upgraded body cameras and dash cameras.

“We began our body-camera program several years ago with some very cheap cameras,” Chief Murrell told the city council. “We quickly determined it was not quality enough for our kind of work, so we upgraded to a company called WatchGuard. They put out a great product.”

But that company was bought out by Motorola and it discontinued the no-fault warranty on its products.

Not only is the department without state-of-the-art body cams and dash cams, but due to the department’s growth, several officers don’t have body cams; and six patrol cars don’t have dash cams, Murrell said.

According to the city’s website, the Rincon Police Department has grown from 20 employees (including two part-time employees) in 2023 to 24 full-time employees in 2025. Two part-time employees were converted to full-time in 2025.

The police department budget increased just under 11% from 2024 to 2025 -- $2.84 million to $3.14 million.

To offset the funding for the new cameras, Murrell said that he applied for and the Rincon Police Department was awarded a $56,000 grant from the Small Rural Tribal (SRT) Body Worn Camera program funded by the US Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance. The grant was part of $6 million awarded to 170 agencies nationally in 2024.

Before presenting his request to the council, Murrell said the department tried three different brands or systems of cameras and determined, for the price and its reputation as an established company that would not be bought out by a larger company, that Axon was the company they wanted.

Axon camera equipment is used by departments such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Chicago, among many others according to its website.

In his request for funding for 30 body cams, 25 in-car camera systems, 30 TASER-7 devices, and 30 user licenses, Murrell added that Axon was able to bundle some items and offer a discount, in addition to periodic upgrades to equipment during the five-year contract period.

The system also offers unlimited Cloud storage, the ability to view incidents live if necessary; and easier ability to send video evidence to court.

Of course, all that comes with a cost – almost $876,000 for five years. Chief Murrell tempered that sticker shock by explaining what the city and police department will get for that sum. He also proposed that the grant and the city’s match of $56,000 could go toward the first year’s cost of just under $176,000, knocking it down to $62,000.

“Basically, it’s Axons Suite that covers all of the guys with body cameras, all of the patrol cars with dash cameras. It replaces all of our tasers, and it comes with all necessary software to operate all those pieces of equipment,” Murrell said.

“We need to pull the trigger on this quick because, like I said, we're out there with no body cameras and dash cameras on some of these guys,” Murrell added.

There were a few minutes of banter back and forth about the department’s potential growth during the next five years, and Murrell assured Councilmember Brandy Riley that he could work the requested funds into his budgets moving forward.

“I appreciate you going the grant route. That’s impressive,” Councilmember Michelle Taylor said. “Every little bit helps.”