KENNER, La. — Keith Conley took over the reins of the Kenner Police Department just 11 days ago.
He’s already making moves.
“We will have body cameras in the city of Kenner,” Conley told WWL-TV on Wednesday.
KPD would be the last law enforcement agency in Jefferson Parish to get the cameras.
The JPSO started rolling them out late last year.
This week, Conley and his staff met with Gretna Police which got the technology in May 2021.
Gretna Police Chief Arthur Lawson talked then about the value of the cameras.
“It gives us a tool to monitor our and certainly gives us the ability to look at those on cam videos, make corrections if the officers make mistakes, as well as it gives the officers some protection for citizens’ complaints," Lawson said.
“We learned a lot from them yesterday and we’re going to continue to learn from them,” Conley said.
Chief Conley is now negotiating with the manufacturer Axon to purchase 140 units, along with dashboard cameras for 20 police cars.
He says whenever an officer draws a weapon or taser every camera in the vicinity will automatically turn on.
“I think this just gives the citizens of Kenner another reason to have much more confidence in the police department.”
Conley hopes to deploy the body cams later this year.
“Everybody on the road, special units will have them when they go on raids or any kind of investigations that might encounter defendants or make arrests,” Conley said.
He also plans to order upgraded Tasers for every officer.
The department also just inked a deal with Ring Home Security where people can onboard their crime videos and upload them directly to the KPD detective bureau.
Chief Conley is also working on a new pay and compensation plan to help attract and retain police officers.
He says right now, his 140-member department is short about 20 officers.