WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office will have a new tool to use when fighting crime.
Officials unpacked new body cameras Wednesday and plan to use them to help build trust with the community.
“It just gives an opportunity for the public to know that not only are their words that are spoken, and their actions being recorded, but the deputies are too,” said Sheriff Colleen O’Neill.
The department is using this week to train with the new devices.
Deputies will now have the ability to record, label, and catalog video evidence directly from their vehicles after each interaction.
“We’re expecting the cameras to be beneficial to use because it will help us document cases better and incidents better. It will hopefully also allow us to eliminate some unwarranted complaints,” said Sergeant Ben Timerman.
O’Neill says there are still some technical issues to shore up, but deputies should be using the cameras on the streets within the next week or two.
These particular body cameras make it easy to share videos with other police agencies and they are the same ones that are used by the state police and the Watertown Police Department.
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