The city of Perryville received a donation of $5,333.01 that will go toward purchasing body and car cameras for the Perryville Police Department at a city council meeting on Jan. 7.

Members of the community, including businesses and wives of officers, started the process of collecting donations. To the best of police chief Parker Hatter’s knowledge, the donations were anonymous.

The money will go toward body and car cameras for all three officers in the department, Hatter said — which includes himself, Larry Nunes, who is a part-time officer, and Nick Paton, the department’s newest part-time officer.

“The cams will be beneficial for our officers and will assist if there are complaints against the officers, as well as for investigation purposes regarding traffic stops and other cases that our officers will respond to,” Hatter said in an email. “This will also be used to assist in investigating officers’ use of force if questions arise against illegal or improper use of force.”

Hatter said this is also an important step in getting Perryville PD “up to date with modern equipment.” He said when he arrived with the department, it was “behind the times” in that it had “outdated equipment and lacking in new policies.”

“My goal was and is to make Perryville PD the best possible department it can be while building a public relationship within Perryville,” Hatter said. “We are heading in the right direction, and the citizens have been 110% supportive.”

On their Facebook page, Peryville PD gave special thanks to Farmers Bank, Jami Hatter, Erika Bottom, and Megan Lyons for helping put the donation effort together.