Calling it a "really exciting day in Lee County," Sheriff Carmine Marceno said Wednesday that the agency's deputies will be getting body cams, but stopped short of giving a definite timeline for deployment.
In an afternoon media briefing, Marceno outlined the type of device and a three-phase rollout for the new cams.
"The decision was made to implement this now, as the technology has caught up with our standards. Six hundred and fifteen state-of-the-art Motorola V700 LTE body-worn cameras have been purchased and are going to be issued to patrol deputies, canines, and corrections personnel in high liability areas," the sheriff said.
The cost for the cams will be $2.5 million over a five-year period, he said.
Marceno said there was not any single incident or reason for implementing the cameras now.
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"The timing was on my decision as the sheriff for this county. The people put their faith, trust and confidence in me. So when I decide this agency, it's the right time. We wanted technology to catch up," he said. "Motorola has produced some amazing technology and fiscally, it's in our budget to make certain that we can move forward. So there's no particular incident. There's no particular case, we have criminal investigations all the time every single day. This is just another added layer of technology for transparency and also at the right time, because it's going to work directly with the real time Intelligence Center. And that's a real big deal."
Despite the implementation of the body cams, Marceno insisted several times that more deputies, rather then tech, were his overarching request.
"I have always said that it would prefer the funds go towards boots on the ground, instead of being tied up in data storage associated with cameras," he said. "I personally as the sheriff, made a choice, countless times that I wanted more boots on the street, I felt that when people are coming home, or they're playing baseball in their front yard, that it's more important for them to see boots on the street and law enforcement officers who engage them with dialogue, talk to them. So more boots on the street, rather than paying money, which at the time was going to be a huge amount of money to storing data on cameras."
The cameras will be rolled out in three phases, Marceno said.
Phase one will be training with several representatives from Motorola helping build the program and train agency personnel on the functions of the equipment and the policies.
"Policies will be written to build failsafes, address legal issues and explain disciplinary actions for those that stray from the guidelines," he said.
Phase two will be deployment.
"Shift sergeants and team leaders will be tasked with guaranteeing all cameras are operational at the time of the beginning of the shift," Marceno said. "Deputies will be responsible for charging and daily preventative maintenance."
Phase three will be follow-up.
"This phase will involve actively utilizing this technology and expanding settings to do better serve the public's need for accountability," he said.
No definite date for deploying the devices was given.
"We are going to be testing them starting to implement policy and procedures. And I mean, it's moving forward like yesterday," he said. "There's no particular deadline."
The sheriff said the cameras will have various attachment methods that will adapt to any LCSO uniform.
Other area law enforcement agencies, notably the Cape Coral and Fort Myers police depaertments, have had body cams for a number of years and the Florida Highway Patrol has has 360-degree dash cams and audio packs.
An FMPD spokesperson said the department reeived body cams approximately in mid-2016 under Chief Derrick Diggs.
"Every officer was issued a body camera," Officer Kristin Capuzzi, Public Information Officer for the Fort Myers Police Department said in an email to WGCU. "We did have some throughout the department prior to his arrival, under Chief Baker. We utilize Axon. Our officers are required to activate at the time dispatched."
A Cape Coral police spokesperson said the department has been using body cameras since 2015 and have policies surrounding their usage.
"All patrol officers have body cameras and use them on all calls for service," Cape police Officer Mercedes Phillips of the Public Affairs Office said in an email to WGCU.
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