Sheriff's deputies in Clinton County are now wearing body cameras. The new equipment has been two years in the making for Chief Deputy Steve Diesch, who worked with the county attorney's office to research and write policies.
He says their 30-day trial has been popular.
"The deputies are saying that they do like them. They can play back the video, write their reports, and make sure, you know, everything is exactly what a person said versus, say, a memory," he said. "That will work good for our deputies to write reports or criminal prosecution, or god forbid, something else goes wrong, we'll have the body video with that information."
The sheriff's department bought the body cameras and software using $46,000 obtained through seizures from criminal cases.
Diesch says he's looking into installing a system that would ensure any time an officer's car lights are on, their body camera will be, too.
"I don't want someone to accidentally forget. You know, sometimes when we get out of our cars in the heat of the moment, and stuff's going on," he said. "This way, when they activate their lights, the body camera will turn on and will remain on throughout the whole call until they're done."
To save money, video from the body cameras will be stored on a county-owned server.
