The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office has finalized a five-year deal for the deployment of 30 Axon Body 2 body-worn cameras for its law enforcement staff following the trend of agencies nationwide. Sheriff Sean P. Kilkenny made the announcement today in his office at the Montgomery County Courthouse.
“The use of body-worn cameras by our law enforcement staff is a big step to further increase public safety, accountability, and transparency,” said Sheriff Sean P. Kilkenny. “The cameras will provide an independent lens for any situation that a deputy may encounter.”
Body cameras are being used mainly in the agency’s civil and warrants divisions. Deputies guarding the courthouse and One Montgomery Plaza entrances, enforcing protection from abuse orders and handling high-risk prisoner transports, and K9 handlers will also wear cameras.
Each camera costs $240, and secure data storage by Evidence Storage is estimated to cost $13,500 annually.
“It is expensive, so we are looking for grant money to defray some of the costs,” said Berry.
When set on buffer mode, a camera can capture of up to two minutes of inaudible video. Up to 70 hours of footage including sound can be recorded with the press of a button. Cameras may not be turned off until a deputy goes off duty.
The cameras can be used in other unique ways.
“By detaching the camera from our uniforms, we can capture video via wireless Bluetooth technology into areas where it’s not safe, such as attics or crawl spaces,” said MCSO Training Coordinator and Emergency Response Team leader Harry Burke. “The Bluetooth technology also allows incident commanders the ability to watch real-time video of an active incident from a command post so they can see the deputies’ point of view in either active shooter or high-risk warrant situations.”
Restrictions under Pennsylvania Act 22 wiretapping and electronic surveillance laws prohibit the use of cameras inside courtrooms and the detention area.
“Due to legal limits, we will not outfit every deputy,” said Chief Deputy Adam T. Berry.
They can be used in residential properties if the deputy on site is on duty, has adequately displayed law enforcement identification, and is using an approved type of camera equipment.
Individual personnel access levels can be customized based upon rank and role. Two years of data must be retained according to the County record retention policy.
Video footage will be available by application through the County open records system. By law, the MCSO has 60 days to fulfill the request, though most may be filled sooner. It could take longer if the recording is part of an active investigation.
Digital evidence from the cameras is tightly secured when downloaded onto a military encrypted docking station and cloud on Evidence.com. All activity can be tracked by user ID and can record the date, time, and number of views, and what footage was redacted.
“During the testing period, we’ve already been able to use body cam footage to confirm a protection from abuse order violation,” said Berry.
Body camera footage also helps law enforcement training and prosecutors resolve cases more quickly. The footage can point out report inaccuracies, mistakes, or fill in important details that may have been missed or forgotten.
“Reviewing footage gives us a chance to see where we can make improvements and do our best,” said Kilkenny.
For more information about the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office visit www.montcopa.org/sheriff. For more information on the MontcoPASheriff App follow this link.