The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office is the latest agency to adopt video body cameras to provide new transparency about the actions of deputies in the field, as well as to give them video evidence of confrontations with criminals.
The Office has been testing cameras with patrol officers in its Ojai and East Valley stations for the last six months, and department officials say they’re pleased with the results.
Sheriff Geoff Dean told County Supervisors that while he was initially unconvinced about the technology, after the tests he’s 100% sold on the idea.
Dean believes the presence of the cameras will mean better behavior from both the deputies and people they interact with.
The $2.1 million dollar initial cost approved by County Supervisors will provide 325 camera systems, with technology to transfer files to county prosecutors without having to go through the time and expense of making copies.
It will cost about a half million dollars a year to run the system, which includes storing the tens of thousands of hours of video for two years or longer as needed for court cases.