All members of the Tamaqua Police Department now have a body camera.

The department purchased eight body cameras and a charger after placing a winning bid on Municibid, a site where government agencies, schools and utilities can sell their surplus and forfeitures.

“We won them for $807.09,” Chief Michael Hobbs told Tamaqua Borough Council at Tuesday’s meeting.

With the recent purchase, he said, the department now has 13 body cameras, so all nine officers will have their own.

“They can be cycled through for more efficiency,” he said, noting they can be kept charged when not in use.

The funds will come from a donation received last year from the Tamaqua Fire Police, Hobbs said. The donation was earmarked for police department cameras, he said.

“In the past, we actually had the same cameras and they cost $995 a piece,” he said. “We had five of them.”

Hobbs said that the body cameras aren’t “the newest” but they are great to have until the department finds grant funding for newer models.

“Even last year, we lost one and had to pay $480 to get it repaired to get it back,” Hobbs said.

He credited Jay Stidham, the borough’s director of public works, for spotting the cameras and charger on Municibid.

“Now every officer has their own and not relying on one to charge for the next shift,” Stidham said.