The Orange County Sheriff’s Office will soon receive body cameras, after the Orange County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a contract agreement with vendor Motorola in a November 13 board meeting.
The contract is worth around $280,000, $20,000 dollars under estimated costs, and covers hardware, software and the storage of the data.
The agreement will undergo a final review by County Attorney John Roberts, but Chief of Operations for the Sheriff’s Office Jamison Sykes said at the meeting that he thinks the body camera will be in the field by the end of January.
Sykes said the 2-year process allowed them to try out equipment from several different vendors to see what worked best for them.
“We’re confident we have selected the best equipment to enhance the law enforcement services provided by our office, to increase transparency and improve community trust in this office.
The contract runs for five years, and covers 75 units. That’s enough cameras for all patrol and detention officers, Sykes said.
Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and Carrboro’s Police departments currently deploy body cameras in some form, despite initial concerns from advocates that a 2016 General Assembly bill restricting public access to the footage will limit the transparency achieved by body cameras.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines