In August of 2019, Tampa mayor Jane Castor asked for the Tampa City Council to set aside just over $1 million to help fund body cameras for 550 Tampa Police Department officers as part of a $256 million budget for police and fire rescue.

In September of 2019, the City of Tampa received a federal grant of $600,000 to fund body cameras for 600 Tampa Police Department officers.

In April of 2020, due to the financial crunch brought on by the coronavirus, the City voted to put the five-year, $5 million contract with Axon to provide the body cameras on hold. A separate allocation to spend $500,000 per year on new tasers for police was left funded. 

While the City has said they would revisit the funding in September after assessing revenues due to the budget, paying for tasers to keep police safe while not body cameras sends the wrong message to people of color within our city. 

The effectiveness of body cameras is up for debate, but their value is found to be greater in police departments that are committed to making reforms. We believe that the Tampa Police Department has many more committed, honorable police officers working to keep us safe every day than those who commit acts mired in racism. We also believe that cameras can help keep officers safe from false allegations of brutality or other violations, and can protect those who serve us as well.

Funding these cameras immediately, at a cost of 0.1% of a $1 billion city budget and partially subsidized by the federal government, shows our citizens that the City of Tampa and the Tampa Police Department are pledging to be a part of the solution in regards to our national debate on policing in communities of color.