Sheriff Richard Roundtree says that his office is in the process of buying body cameras for all of his deputies.
Deputies will start using the cameras on July 1st, 2015.
The sheriff has been trying to get body cameras for all of his deputies for more than two years.
Until now, the money wasn’t there, but the sheriff says that problem is finally solved.
“We’ve secured the funding and we’ve actually placed the order. A lot of things have to come into place though. We have to get some video personnel to manage the data because we have an extremely large agency,” the sheriff said.
Roundtree says once the policies and procedure are in place, there will be about 400 deputies using the body cams, both on-duty and while they are working specials.
“Every incident is not a high risk incident, but every incident has the potential to escalate into such, so before we put the body cameras in the street we are going to have extensive training,” Roundtree said.
The sheriff says deputies will be encouraged to turn their cameras on any time they interact with the public.
We spoke with several people who all said the devices are a good idea.
“Everybody needs to have them. I have a few cameras in my car just in case I get stopped,” DeAnna Miller of Augusta said.
“Everything would be right out in the open. No problems,” Roosevelt Durham of Grovetown, GA said.
“I definitely think so. I think it’s a great idea. It holds the police officer accountable,” Melissa Wilkes of Evans, GA said.
The sheriff says each camera will cost about $200, plus there is the cost of storing the video and hiring two employees to handle the data.
“The prices are going to start fluctuating, but fortunately, with the asset forfeiture funds we got from the weapons sale, it is completely funded with no tax payer money,” Roundtree said.
The sheriff says that 100 cameras will be put into operation on July 1st, and then as the kinks are worked out, 400 cameras will be used.
