Sheriff's office working to upgrade body cameras

The Hot Springs County Sheriff's Office recently registered with http://www.bodycameradonations.com, which assists law enforcement agencies in registering for publicly funded donations of police body cameras. The department is looking to outfit at least four officers with WOLFCOM VISION Police Body Cameras.

Sergeant Deputy Sheriff Jerimie Kraushaar is coordinating the department's donation effort. Kraushaar explained people could make monetary donations via the site, which will go toward purchase of the cameras.

The department chose to start a body camera program due to an issue a while back, Kraushaar said, when a deputy was assaulted by a man who claimed the deputy approached and assaulted him. The case went to court and the department lost, because the jury said the deputy should have never approached the suspect to start with.

From that point, Sheriff Lou Falgoust required deputies to wear and use body cameras. Having used the WOLFCOM 3RD EYE, the time is right for an upgrade, Kraushaar said, hence the online registration. Detention deputies could still use the older cameras.

The office body camera policy requires deputies to turn cameras on when interacting with citizens, but also if there is a situation an officer believes is escalating.

Kraushaar said if he were working a rodeo he wouldn't have the camera on all the time, but would activate it if the situation called for it.

The cameras, Kraushaar said, help with holding deputies accountable and with accuracy in reporting. They also help in cases when deputies can present video evidence in court. Additionally, they help the community by showing deputies are doing their job properly. In the case of complaints, video can be reviewed to confirm or deny them.

Kraushaar noted there are only a few body cameras with the department so not all patrol officers have them. The four cameras would provide enough cameras to cover patrol and allow transfer of older cameras to the detention center.

Kraushaar added the detention center has two cameras, though there are none specific to any officer. Patrol deputies that have them are Kraushaar, Daniel Eggli and Shawn Milek.

Looking to the future, Kraushaar said it would be preferable to pay for the cameras through the department's regular budget, but the generally negative financial climate could impact that. Even after the current goal is met, the sheriff's office will remain registered with the site, to provide upgrades as needed.

The plan is to upgrade the cameras about every three years, Kraushaar said. While current cameras are showing some effects of age, such as degenerating battery life, they are still reliable and take quality video.

Sheriff Falgoust hopes to be successful in acquiring better cameras, to provide better service to the community.