The implementation of body-worn cameras for deputies with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office is moving along on schedule, according to the department chief in charge of the project.
The Clark County Council received an update about the county’s body camera program by sheriff’s chief administrative deputy Mike McCabe during its “council time” meeting on May 24. The program, funded through a sales tax increase approved by county voters last year, began to be implemented at the start of this year.
“I am happy to report to you that through our project manager we have been tracking our goals, and we are in the green and on task,” McCabe said.
Reviewing the department’s policy was one of the first things that needed to be done for the program’s implementation. That included not only looking at a new policy focused on the cameras themselves, but also looking at how the program affected other policies like use of force and vehicle usage, McCabe said.
“It’s been a full review from top to bottom,” he said.
McCabe said the Vancouver and Camas police departments already have their own body camera programs and have assisted the sheriff’s office during their own implementation. He noted the sheriff’s office was able to use “quite a bit” of Vancouver’s language when crafting their own policy.
The sheriff’s office started a 30-day field test on three deputies and one sergeant in April. The sheriff’s office’s cameras come from Axon, who has provided cameras to law enforcement in Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma, among other places, McCabe said.
Though last week’s meeting was only an update, McCabe said at some point, the sheriff’s office will recommend purchasing Axon’s latest body camera systems. Compared to older models, the system has a greater field of view, longer battery life and two-way communication.
McCabe said the latter feature can allow an interpreter to communicate with the deputy, if needed.
“This is a fantastic, new development for the camera system,” McCabe said.
The cameras also have the ability to live stream to other sheriff’s staff, McCabe said. That capability is based on a cellular or wi-fi connection, so streaming in more rural areas could pose an issue.
“It will continue to record, it just may not broadcast where the deputy’s at,” McCabe said.
He said the battery life for the cameras is about 14 hours. Based on current technology development, McCabe said Axon replaces cameras about every two-and-a-half years.
The sheriff’s office will propose a five-year service agreement with Axon, McCabe said. Along with the contract, the program will also require additional staffing in order to run the records, he noted.
Regarding records access, McCabe said Washington’s public disclosure laws favor the public on what is available. Since the county owns the video, he said, in a dispute it would be the county that determines the time of its release.
McCabe noted Sheriff John Horch’s goal is to have the records released quickly.
“The goal is, obviously, to let the public know what has occurred, whether that is what has occurred is good, or whether it’s bad,” McCabe said. “They have a right to know.”
Based on cases across the country, releasing footage in a timely fashion can work to calm concerns over an investigation, he added.
Alongside the body cameras, the sheriff’s office will also recommend new tasers from Axon, which have a greater range than older devices. McCabe mentioned a suite of products from the company the sheriff’s office would like to see, which includes the dash-mounted cameras already planned for the current program, an interviewing system, drone footage storage, virtual reality-based training, evidence storage and an auditing program to keep track of body camera usage.
The sheriff’s office believes those products will increase transparency and trust with the department, McCabe said.
With the county council’s support, he anticipates the cameras to be used by deputies in late summer or early fall. The implementation of the dash cameras, the interviewing system, and the new tasers would follow.
“This will be something that will be ongoing conversation in the community for quite a while, but I think the community can be very proud of where we’re at and where we’re heading,” McCabe said.
