Agenda - 12-05-2016 - 6-a - Minutes

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8 1 Sheriff Blackwood said yes. He said the cost for unlimited cloud for 20 cameras, for one 2 year would be $105,800, and for 60 cameras would be $315,560. 3 Commissioner Burroughs said the first year would be about $500,000, and the most 4 costs come with the storage. 5 Sheriff Blackwood said yes. 6 Commissioner Jacobs thanked the Sheriff for sharing his honest thoughts. He said the 7 issue of cost is more troubling than the actual concept of the body cameras, and it is probably 8 too late since the public will expect law enforcement to have body cameras. 9 Commissioner Jacobs said he would encourage the Sheriff to think this through, but he 10 believes it is likely unavoidable. 11 Sheriff Blackwood said he knows the legislation will probably require body cameras. 12 Commissioner Jacobs said long term it will be to the benefit for law enforcement to have 13 body cameras. 14 Sheriff Blackwood said there are more reasons to have them than not. 15 Commissioner Pelissier asked if anything else is being considered to build and/or keep 16 trust between the community and law enforcement. 17 Sheriff Blackwood said that is the purpose of the community discussions. 18 Commissioner Rich said she is conflicted with the General Assembly saying what can 19 and cannot be done. 20 Sheriff Blackwood said the mechanism is there to have footage released, it just requires 21 a court order. 22 Commissioner Rich said if and when cameras are used, she wanted to make sure the 23 best equipment is secured. 24 Commissioner Price said she respected the Sheriff and his point of view, but there is 25 always the potential for an officer(s) that probably should never have been hired. She said for 26 the safety of citizens, and to protect their own officers, body cameras are needed. 27 Commissioner Dorosin said this is a national issue of trust/distrust. He said it is critical 28 to have body cameras/video as another evidentiary tool. He said there is a racial component to 29 this discussion as well. He wanted to know if it is the will of this Board to have these cameras, 30 and what needs to be done to address the Sheriff's concerns. 31 Sheriff Blackwood said he would like the BOCC to commit to him that his department 32 will not have to give up the car cameras, that each officer receives a body camera, and that he 33 will not get crucified if he does not release a video, per the legislation. 34 Commissioner Dorosin said these requests seem eminently reasonable to him. 35 Commissioner Burroughs said she felt that costs should not be a barrier to purchasing 36 and implementing body cameras. She is in favor of moving forward. 37 Commissioner Rich said as the issue moves forward, she asked Sheriff Blackwood to 38 continue to share his concerns if any come up. She said there must be mutual trust. 39 Commissioner Jacobs said he supported the conversation thus far, and he suggested 40 the Sheriff come back with a more concrete cost proposal. 41 Sheriff Blackwood said he has reached out to other sheriffs and has been in touch with 42 vendors. 43 Commissioner Jacobs said with the issue of releasing videos, they should come up with 44 a policy together on this topic, if the law remains the same. He said the Board may want the 45 Sheriff to request a Judge's permission to release a video. He said the Sheriff has more 46 knowledge than any attorney about law enforcement. 47 Commissioner Price said it is important that all understand she is coming from a 48 different perspective. She said she has been stopped for walking twice in Orange County, and 49 once in Charlotte. She said something needs to be done, and the body cameras will help. She 50 is supportive of the usage of these sooner rather than later.