NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — It's a tool designed to help the police. Starting this month, members of the Nassau County Sheriff's Office added body cameras to their list of equipment.
These body cameras are meant to aid in law enforcement just as much as they're meant to help the public.
Now in Nassau County it's just a part of the uniform: a badge, a radio, handcuffs and now, a body camera. The process of testing and determining which exact style of body camera the officers would use took nearly two years. Currently, more than 100 officers wear body cameras on duty.
"It allows us more transparency, more accountability," says Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper. "It can show our citizens what our deputies come in contact with every day, the situation they deal with."
The ACLE is in favor of police worn body cameras. A statement by the organization reads, in part, "if the technology is to be effective at providing oversight, reducing police abuses, and increasing community trust, it is vital that they be deployed with good policies to ensure they accomplish those goals."
Deputy Nick Davis wears a body camera and says policy within the Nassau County Sheriff's office is to have the cameras on when dealing with the public.
"Whether it's traffic stops, citizen encounters, any call that we go to, everything has to be recorded now, camera's got to be on, audio's got to be working," says Davis.
Total transparency through a camera recording of what the officer sees and hears. Win-win for the officer and the public.
"There's no downside," says Davis. "It's transparency for us and the public, it's a good way to earn the trust of the public to have them see what we do on a day-to-day basis and know that we're here for them. Community first is our motto, it's what's on the side of our cars and that's what we preach."
A clear view of officer interaction, for their protection and yours.
