New London — New London police may soon be the first department in the region to equip officers with body cameras after a vote Monday by the City Council that will also pay for helmets and ballistic vests.

In what was for some councilors a reluctant change of heart, they voted 6-1 to approve borrowing $625,000 for the purchase of an array of public safety equipment.

The bonded money will pay for $200,000 in gear for firefighters, along with $185,000 worth of self-contained breathing apparatus, or Scott Air Paks.

For police, there is $100,000 for body cameras, $40,000 for additional computer storage, $30,000 for ballistic vests and $50,000 for protective head gear.

Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio, a longtime proponent of the body cameras, hailed the approval as a major victory for his administration and said he was grateful to the council for its approval despite some reservations.

“This is something I’ve been pushing for a very long time,” Finizio said.

Under his administration, Finizio said the police department has made strides to expand programs that provide transparency, such as upgrades to dashboard cameras, Tasers with cameras, a body camera pilot program and surveillance camera upgrades inside the police department.

“Body cameras will protect good officers against false accusations and also assure every member of the public we are monitoring law enforcement activity to ensure the civil rights of every resident and visitor to the city are protected,” Finizio said.

A recent state law requires state police to equip troopers with body cameras. Grant money is expected to be available for municipal departments to purchase cameras.

The overall funding request was debated over the last several months, with the majority of the council unwilling to borrow money for what some councilors had said were items more appropriately requested in the operating budget.

The equipment originally was part of a $1.4 million bonding request that included $663,815 in upgrades to the emergency dispatch system. Dispatch upgrades were not funded in the package approved Monday.

Councilor Michael Passero, who is the Democratic candidate for mayor, said he was still dissatisfied with the way the items were being funded but said the critical need for the items, coupled with the lack of other available funding sources, ultimately led to his vote in favor.

“From my perspective this is bad policy, to borrow money for equipment that should be funded out of the operating budget,” Passero said.

But with the city’s finance department getting ready to seek bonding next month and the fact that money was not allocated in a tight operating budget, Passero said the council had little choice.

He said the council will continue to seek alternate funding sources and grant money to pay for the items.

Councilor Erica Richardson, chairwoman of the public safety committee, agreed that money should have been included in the operating budget but said it was a major liability issue for firefighters to be wearing outdated gear.

Richardson said with other looming expenditures the council needs to do a better job in setting priorities for expenditures and funding recurring expenses on a rotating basis.  

She said it was also frustrating that some of the items were included in the operating budget but were cut out before they reached the council.

Finance Director Jeff Smith has estimated that borrowing $625,000 will cost an additional $93,750 over five years.

Monday’s 6-1 vote on the appropriation came after the six Democratic councilors met behind closed doors for about 15 minutes.

The private meeting was referred to as a caucus, a legal means of conducting a meeting without access from the public or participants from another political party.

The lone Republican on the council, Martin Olsen, unsuccessfully attempted to send the funding request back to the finance committee for review. He also voted against the appropriation.

G.smith@theday.com

Twitter: @SmittyDay