Orland Park trustees are supporting plans for a therapy dog program within the Police Department that could aid traumatized first responders and children, and assist officers who deal with people with mental health issues.

Trustees at a committee meeting Monday also agreed to move ahead with the purchase of body cameras for all police officers, a move the police Chief Joe Mitchell said is fully endorsed by them.

Training for the therapy dog program would involve an officer traveling to Florida in September, Mitchell said.

There is no charge for the training, but the department would have to cover the travel cost. Mitchell said the department has already received $5,000 in donations to support the therapy dog program.

Like the traditional firehouse dog, the therapy dog would be “kind of a mascot” for the Police Department, with staff assigned to care for the animal, Mitchell said. He said that there are also dozens of community events each year where the dog could make an appearance to promote the program.

Trustees voted to recommend approval of the program to the Village Board. While the committee of the whole comprises all six trustees and the mayor, any votes taken are advisory to the Village Board.

Body cameras

The committee also recommended a five-year agreement with Axon for body cameras for officers as well as in-squad cameras.

Including equipment, maintenance, data storage and regular product updates, the cost spread over five years is about $974,000.

“It’s a very expensive investment but in the long term it will be

worthwhile,” Mitchell told trustees.

The village plans to buy 116 body-worn cameras along with 44 vehicle cameras.

The use of body-worn cameras by 2025 is mandated in sweeping criminal justice reform legislation signed earlier this year by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Initially, larger departments, including Chicago and sheriff’s departments in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and Will counties, would be the first to deploy cameras. Chicago police now have about 8,000 cameras but roughly 11,700 sworn officers, with camera use focused on patrol units.

Use of cameras has been regulated under the Illinois Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act, but the use of cameras has not been required on such a large scale.

Of the nearly 900 law enforcement agencies in the state, 75 reported using any body cameras in 2019, according to data from the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.

In the Southland, departments including Evergreen Park, Homewood, Olympia Fields and Park Forest have officers outfitted with body-worn cameras, according to the training and standards board.

During the first three months of this year, a handful of Orland Park officers field tested cameras by Axon (formerly Taser International), Panasonic and WatchGuard from Motorola Solutions.

Mitchell said officers are excited about the program.

“They think it is going to be beneficial,” he said.

Initially, Orland Park and other departments had concerns with language in the recently signed legislation that would have barred officers from reviewing body camera images before writing an incident report. The wording was revised to permit review in some circumstances.

Mitchell said due to high demand for the Axon product, he expects the cameras to tentatively be rolled out in January. He said this system will provide off-site cloud storage, with images available for review by prosecutors and defense attorneys.

The cameras, if they haven’t already been activated by the officer, will switch on if an officer unholsters a Taser or service firearm, and if there are other officers on the scene that will also activate body cameras within a 30-foot radius. Supervisors can also view camera footage in real time.

mnolan@tribpub.com