Cameras Added To Deputies’ Vehicles

For Safety Sake

Sixteen of the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office’s vehicles now feature dashboard cameras to benefit law enforcement in several ways.

“It will help us be more professional,” Roosevelt County undersheriff John Summers said. “We’re becoming more modern.”

County commissioners approved the purchase of the cameras for a total cost of $182,198 earlier this year. The cameras were purchased after a lawsuit, which was later dismissed, was filed against the county and sheriff’s office concerning liability.

“It’s an ongoing concern for safety,” Commissioners Gordon Oelkers said about safety purchases earlier this year. “We’re really pretty updated.”

Summers explains that the camera system, conducted by the Axon company, consists of a camera mounted on vehicles’ windshields looking out and another camera aimed at the backseats to view suspects.

The cameras work in coordination with the officers’ body cameras. Axon is also the county’s company for body cameras.

“The camera is always recording. It has a large Cloud space,” Summers said. “The video is being stored in the Cloud immediately. It’s going to be save and archived for all time.”

The cameras will help the office be more transparent regarding arrests and incidents.

“And it will help us win cases,” Summers said. “We already win our fair share, but it will make our cases even stronger.”

The cameras have the possibility of providing more protection for officers since the system also tracks the movements of deputies.

Axon took two days to install the cameras in the 16 vehicles.

Sgt. Jared Standing coordinated the work with the Axon company and is also training younger officers with the equipment. He was trained by the lead installer.

“Overall, it will be good for evidence collection,” Standing said.

He mentioned that in cases such as Driving Under the Influence, courts won’t only have to rely on written reports from officers. “Now, dash cams will provide visual evidence,” Standing said.