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Description
The Buncombe County Sheriff's Office has implemented body cameras for their officers in the field. Learn all about them and why in this news update.
A
Today
say
a
big
announcement
for
us
here
at
the
Buncombe
County
Sheriff's
Office.
We
put
our
mobile
computer
terminals
in
our
patrol
vehicles
a
little
over
a
decade
ago,
and
that
was
a
that
was
a
really
big
thing
for
law
enforcement
in
this
county
and
particularly
the
sheriff's
office.
We
we
share
a
system
with
actual
police
department
and
also
woodford
Police
Department.
That
technology
has
made
our
job
much
easier
made
our
officers
in
the
field
much
more
effective.
A
I
would
say,
probably
this
is
our
next
biggest
leap
in
technology
that
we
have
undertaken
since
we
put
those
mobile
computer
terminals
in
those
vehicles.
What
we
are
doing
today
is
announcing
the
use
of
the
video
body
camps
for
our
patrol
officers
and
also
our
series
community
enforcement
team.
Everybody
is
pretty
familiar
with
the
issue
around
body,
cams
and
video
recording
of
law
enforcement
activities,
and
what
I
can
tell
you
is.
A
We
have
good
that
this
for
the
past
five
to
eight
years
about
how
we
could
do
a
better
job
and
being
more
transparent
and
have
more
of
our
interactions
with
the
public
recorded
in
a
way
to
where,
if
they're
called
into
question
that
we
basically
have
an
impartial
entire
being
the
video
camera.
What
we
started
with
several
years
ago
was
in
car
camps
and
that
technology
was
extremely
expensive.
A
Was
there
seven
of
those
folks
at
work
specifically
in
the
community,
around
issues
of
property,
crime,
street-level
drug
interactions
and
those
type
things
and
the
communities
are
having
those
issues?
We
decided
to
equip
those
folks
first
and
we
have
purchased
70
of
the
v
view
cameras
and
we
use
drug
seizure
forfeiture
money,
so
there
would
be
no
taxpayer
cost
to
to
roll
in
this
technology.
Out
with
our
agency
right
here
is
an
example
of
this
camp
sergeant,
Murphy's
wearing
one
of
the
v
view
cameras
gross
motor
skill
to
turn
this
camera
on
and
off.
A
So
when
I
officer
gets
out
of
the
vehicle
and
engages
on
a
call,
that's
all
you
have
to
do
to
turn
that
particular
piece
of
equipment
on
it
records
until
the
call
is
completed,
and
then
the
officer
simply
reaches
turns
the
camera
off
what
we
know
from
the
data
that's
out
there.
This
has
reduced
complaint
calls
by
90
plus
percent
for
the
agencies
that
are
using,
because
it
is,
it
is
accountability
and
transparency,
not
only
for
the
officer
and
the
agency,
but
also
for
the
public,
the
camera
records
for
five
hours.
A
It's
got
five
hours
worth
of
recording
time
on
it.
As
we
talk
to
larger
agencies.
What
we
find
out
is
generally
in
a
12
12
hour
shift
and
a
larger
agency
calls
for
service
somewhere
around
an
hour
and
a
half
to
two
hours
is
the
recording
time
of
shift
that
an
officer
would
actually
log
getting
out
and
engaging
on
the
calls.
A
The
officer
then
comes
in
at
the
end
of
shift
downloads
that
camera
into
a
cradle
which
plugs
into
a
lot
of
laptop.
The
officer
can
see
the
film
footage,
but
in
no
way
can
control
or
alter
the
film
footage.
The
officer
can
add
notes
about
the
call,
and
then
the
administrator
here
at
the
Sheriff's
Office
that
will
be
responsible
for
going
in
and
and
basically
overseeing
that
data
storage
and
footage
will
be
able
to
look
at
that
footage
in,
and
they
are
the
only
folks
that
have
administrative
rights
over
that
thing.
A
We're
not
doing
this
because
of
any
kind
of
types
of
complaints
that
we
currently
get
or
issues
we
currently
have
with
our
community
I
honestly
feel
that
our
Sheriff's
Office
has
a
very
transparent
relationship
with
the
community,
and
we
have
a
very
good
advocacy
relationship
with
our
community,
but
in
hopes
of
keeping
that
positive
and
moving
forward,
as
well
as
giving
our
officers
another
tool
that
really
kind
of
protects
them
in
many
ways
as
well.
We
are
going
to
initiate
the
use
of
this
technology.