By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
With the Wood County Sheriff’ Office currently “Band-Aiding” its body and dash cameras, the county is preparing to spend just over $400,000 on new cameras for deputies and their patrol vehicles.
Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn presented a proposal Tuesday to the county commissioners.
“We were the first in the region to have body cameras,” he said. But it’s been eight years, and the system is at the end of its life. The cameras are no longer serviceable, according to Lt. Rod Konrad.
The dashcams are even older, dating back to 2006.
The cameras have been well worth the cost, Wasylyshyn said.
“There were many situations where people made false accusations against a deputy,” but the cameras gave an accurate picture of what transpired, the sheriff said.
“It’s really saved us lawsuits – saved us time in court,” Wasylyshyn said about the value of body and dash cameras.
In addition to new body and dash cameras, the sheriff’s office would like to send video storage to the “cloud.” The cloud refers to software and services that run on the Internet, instead of locally on a computer.
“There are many more features with the cloud,” Wasylyshyn said.
For example, the sheriff’s office will have better access to download material, and will be able to redact information on juveniles. The sheriff’s office will also no longer have to manually make DVDs for the prosecutor’s office, since that office will be able to access information through a link.
The new body cameras and dashcams will be “married,” Konrad explained.
When the light bar is engaged in a road patrol vehicle, the body camera will kick on, he said. Then when the light bar is turned off, the camera video automatically goes to the cloud, he added. The new dashcams will have a wider view.
The sheriff’s office would like to purchase 44 new body cameras and 34 dashcams – costing about $403,000.
“We’re hoping to at least get five years out of this,” Wasylyshyn said.
The commissioners will review the request and make a decision on the new camera system.
“It sounds to me like a necessity,” Commissioner Ted Bowlus said.
