By John Burton
FREEHOLD – The Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office has begun equipping some of its officers with body-worn cameras.
As of Jan. 12, 30 of the department’s officers, those in the fugitive warrants section of the department’s Law Enforcement Division, were issued the new cameras as standard equipment.
The body-worn cameras, or BWCs, are clipped to the front of the officer’s uniform. According to information released by the Sheriff’s department, the officers have been trained on operating the cameras and the accompanying technology, which will record video and audio of officer-involved incidents.
The use of the equipment is in compliance with the directives and standards put forward by the state Attorney General’s Office in its guidelines for using this type of equipment and retention of the recordings, according to the sheriff’s office.
The body-worn camera has been issued to 30 officers with the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office.
“These body-worn cameras will build upon the public trust that sheriff ’s officers and our partners in law enforcement have in communities and enhance the safety of the residents we serve throughout Monmouth County,” said Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden in a released statement. In addition to holding all involved accountable, Golden said “they can also help capture quality evidence, recognize officer behavior and decrease complaints filed against members of law enforcement.”
The department has been using similar video equipment for police vehicles and prisoner transportation for many years “with great success,” Golden said.
The cameras are called Body Vision XV and manufactured by L3 Mobile Vision, Rockaway. The county department was able to purchase the equipment through a grant provided by the state Attorney General’s Office’s Department of Law and Public Safety, with the grant administered by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.
Currently, 18 law enforcement agencies in the county have begun using this type of body-worn camera through this grant program.
