Deputy Zack Huskins shows off his field test body camera, which he’s been wearing for about a year.
Officers from the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Department will soon have body cameras thanks to a $23,053.32 grant from the North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission.
The road to bringing body cameras to Mitchell County started when Sheriff Donald Street observed current events in January 2020.
“The way things were going in the country during that time, I was concerned that something the Sheriff’s Office needed was body cams,” Street said. “For our protection and the protection of the citizens of Mitchell County.”
Street then met with Matt Duggas of PatrolEyes, a high-definition body camera company. Duggas gave the department a pair of demo cameras to field test.
“They worked great,” Street said. “We’ve used them in court, too, whenever they’re needed.”
After seeing how well the cameras worked in the field test, the department applied for the North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission grant and received approval this past October.
The funds will allow for the purchase of 12 body cameras. Street said they will likely need additional cameras in the future but acknowledged that a dozen is a fine start.
“It’s not the cameras that are expensive, it’s the data storage,” he said.
Body camera footage is in a long-term database. Footage can be shared with the District Attorney’s office while complying with North Carolina discovery laws.
The body camera company will also send a representative to introduce and train officers on the cameras once they arrive. Cameras won’t always be live but will be on during traffic stops and other interactions with citizens.
Street and his department are now waiting for the grant funds to arrive to purchase the cameras.
“It’s stuff like this that brings you up to date with law enforcement in the 21st century,” Street said. “This will provide protection for our officers from false accusations, provide evidence in court and give the citizens of Mitchell County the security they need when dealing with law enforcement.”