Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Ken Mason told the Lincoln County Commissioners Sept. 4 that LCSO Lt. Rand Maker will submit a 2012 Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) request, to buy equipment, most probably on-person video cameras.
Mason said the grant is not a matching grant, and believes the funds will be awarded in October. “We plan on buying on-person video cameras; four of them,” Mason said.
Mason said the cameras are “relatively expensive.” Mason said LCSO previously received a Justice Assistance Grant two years prior, for $11,156.
Responding to Commissioner Sheridan Bond, who asked for an update about the distribution of the previously received grant, Mason said he believed the funds were used to purchase mapping equipment for accidents and crime scenes, and, “also out of that grant, we are buying the other nine body cameras,” Mason said.
A standard body camera used by police is discrete, and looks similar to a cell phone clipped onto a police officer’s shirt.
Mason said along with the cameras, a server will be purchased with the grant money, and once downloaded, the video data will be kept until a case is closed. “In the case of serious crimes, they are kept indefinitely,” Mason said. “The data is used for evidentiary purposes.”
Though the grant has not been received by the county, in anticipation of receipt, the Commissioners voted unanimously to accept the JAG grant when it is issued.
