Sheriff’s office employs body cameras

Sheriff Shannon Oliver explains the functionality of new body cameras recently purchased for his department. In his right hand is the camera itself, which is affixed to an officer’s uniform. In his right hand is the remote, which is hooked to the officer’s belt or kept in his pock and used to activate the camera at the push of a button.

By Alison James

alison.james@fct.wpengine.com

Protection is a primary purpose of local law enforcement. But now a small device is providing that protection for officers in the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.

Body cameras have been purchased to outfit each patrolman and investigator in Sheriff Shannon Oliver’s office. He said the purchase was made, at least in part, because of recent national news stories centered on allegations against law enforcement officers. The federal government, Oliver said, has been urging police forces to outfit their officers with these cameras.

“We thought it would be the best thing that we go ahead and do it,” Oliver said. “It will be a benefit to the officers, the agency and the citizens.”

Purchased by a combination of grant funds (80 percent) through a Franklin County Community Development Grant and budgeted funds for the department (20 percent), the $7,525 worth of cameras have already been put to use by officers, who wear them daily on their person and activate any time they engage a member of the community – a traffic stop, for example, or a domestic call. That’s 25 cameras, which, in addition to all patrol officers and investigators, provides for one camera per shift at the jail.

The battery-operated cameras shoot video/audio as well as still shots and also have infrared capabilities for nighttime footage. Footage from the cameras is downloaded and secured as evidence by Deputy Chief Delane Clark and is password protected. Officers have no ability to erase or alter footage captured, as the cameras are locked, and officers have no way to access the footage once it is downloaded as evidence. This, Oliver said, eliminates the risk of anyone accusing an officer of tampering with the photo or video evidence.

Oliver said the cameras are precautionary, although there have been times in the past when the cameras would have proved useful in addressing “minor complaints.”

“Maybe somebody said the officer did something – we’ve had incidents of that nature,” Oliver said. “We’ve had officers accused of talking ugly to somebody or something like that. This would have ruled that out.”

Oliver said the office had body cameras years ago, but they were cheap, poor-quality devices. The new cameras will be useful in helping his officers carry out their duties.

“We have cameras in our cars, but they can only see so much,” Oliver said.

Oliver thanked those who awarded the grant, including the efforts and involvement of Sen. Larry Stutts, Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow and Rep. Ken Johnson.