The Texarkana, Texas, Police Department has temporarily suspended their body worn camera project because of the large number of technical issues and camera failures experienced, official said.
All body worn cameras, which were originally purchased using donations from the community, have been returned to L-2 Mobile Vision. A full refund is expected to be made to the police department in the next two weeks, said Shawn Vaughn, department spokesman.
The Police Department purchased 53 body-worn cameras in August 2015. Since the purchase date, a total of 33 cameras have failed.
"We are very disappointed that the system did not live up to expectations, but we appreciate L3's willingness to make it right. Despite the challenges that we've had over the last year, we remain committed to the use of body worn cameras by our officers," said Police Chief Dan Shiner.
L-3 Mobile Vision was selected as the vendor at that time based upon product reviews, a field demonstration period and its compatibility with the existing mobile cameras installed in department patrol units.
"As a matter of fact, the search for another system is already underway. We'll put the refunded money in a separate account to be sure that it is used only for the purpose designated by those very generous donors last year."