LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department plans to fully deploy body-worn cameras for its patrol deputies two to three years from now at a cost of $34.6 million, according to county documents.
Chief Executive Officer Sachi Hamai submitted a letter to the Board of Supervisors recommending approval of the plan, but the issue didn’t appear on the board’s Tuesday agenda.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva, in a July letter to the CEO, said the cameras were “long overdue” and would “add a new means for achieving fair and impartial treatment of persons who become involved in the criminal justice system.”
They will also allow the department to assess its own performance in critical incidents, Villanueva said.
The Lancaster, Century, Lakewood, Industry and West Hollywood stations are slated to be the first batch of patrol stations where deputies will be outfitted with cameras.
It will take about 19 months to roll out the devices to more than 5,200 deputies and security officers operating out of 58 patrol stations and substations, 84 county facilities and nine community colleges, according to Hamai.
The department first needs to finalize a request for proposal and pick a winning bidder. Full roll-out is expected sometime in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022.
The department ran its first test of the devices in 2011 in its custody division, where it decided stationary cameras would do a better job. Then plans for patrol deputies to use cameras ran aground when former sheriff Jim McDonnell asked for $55 million in funding and 239 new personnel.
Villanueva said those higher costs were due to assumptions that investigators would review video for every case they were assigned and that any video would be released to the public upon request. Neither of those policies are consistent with other large law enforcement agencies statewide, according to Villanueva.
Enough money to cover his proposal — including $20.5 million in one-time costs for training, equipment and technology upgrades — has been set aside by the board, according to Hamai.
The department expects it will require 33 new full-time employees to run the program. Hamai will also hire an independent consultant to gauge the cameras’ impact on public perception and community relations.
The Los Angeles Police Department first deployed body-worn cameras in 2015, rolling them out in a multi-year program.
–
Alby says
Civilians should wear body cameras and bullet proof vests as well. Its going from the battle of “he said she said” to “he filmed she filmed”. Alot of b.s. might be exposed from both sides.
Alexis says
Cons of body cameras: Major invasion of privacy for police officer and man or woman he has in a chokehold: Those could be anyone’s arms bashing a citizen with a nightstick.
Alexis says
Pros of body cameras: Turning camera askew allows officers to record beatings with stylish Dutch angles: Provides accurate record of where police were when they turned off their body camera.
Tim Scott says
It should be noted that only the police have access to those accurate records. If the camera gets into an awkward location before it gets turned off the footage is invariably lost to a mysterious “glitch” in storage, just like dash cam video always is.
Blank says
Aren’t the cops the very people that opposed cameras in the first place? It’s tough to screw off and beat on people with a camera rolling.
Tim Scott says
That’s them. Now all the baton lickers have jumped on this new “the cops always wanted them because false reports” bit. Sycophants are almost as hilarious as they are disgusting.
AV Illegal says
Uh oh….no more false complaints from the outstanding felons of the community. No more false statements that get covered up…..what will they all find to complain about now?
Duh says
Right, ACLU will go out of business. Criminals will lose their lawsuits when the truth comes out on camera. They asked for it they got it! Now wait for the lawsuit that says law enforcement cameras violate civil rights.
mark says
Did you see that body cam footage of the Fresno PD beating up the 17 year old? That officer also lied on his report about the incident. Hopefully they keep more law enforcement honest. As long as they remember to turn on the body cam.
Puzzled says
So three additional years to roll out something the previous Sheriff had arranged and wanted funding for years ago; why did we vote him out again?
Cleo Johnson says
It will be fun to see all of the savages in the AV caught on camera. Once the community organizers realize that what we really learn from the camera footage is that the AV is full of savages misbehaving, there will be an outcry to make the deputies stop wearing the cameras.
Video Review says
It’s about time.