Syracuse police told the Common Council they will apply for a Bureau of Justice Assistance grant not to exceed $141,000, with a 50% local match, to purchase 50 body-worn cameras, accessories and licensing for the department's SWAT team.

First Deputy Chief Richaff told councilors the grant would fund dedicated cameras so SWAT members do not have to pick up units at a central station before every response: "The purpose of this grant would be to buy 50 new body worn cameras for our SWAT team," he said.

Council members pressed staff about automatic activation: whether cameras can be set to turn on during vehicle responses (by siren), or when an officer draws a firearm. Police staff said the department has policies for when body and dash cameras are activated and offered to provide those documents to council. A technology sergeant said the specific accessory that triggers a camera on weapon draw is known as "signal sidearm," and that the department had not ordered or implemented that device: "It's called signal sidearm," the sergeant said.

Police explained the operational gap the purchase aims to close: currently, officers responding to scenes sometimes must pick up cameras at a charging station, which can leave initial moments unrecorded. The new cameras would be dedicated to the SWAT unit so units arrive with devices already on their persons.

No formal vote on the grant application took place during the remarks. Council members asked police to return with the written policy on camera activation and to follow up on the status of the signal-sidearm accessory and any dash-cam auto-trigger functionality.

Next steps: police will proceed with the grant application process and provide requested policy documents to the council and staff follow-ups on accessory procurement.