Sheriff plans to add body cameras

Office seeks devices after commissioners OK Request for Proposal as part of 2021 budget

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office is moving toward implementing a body camera program.

As part of the county’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget, the board of commissioners approved, unanimously, the development of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the purchase, maintenance, and video management of body cameras to be utilized by deputies of the sheriff’s office, the third-largest police agency in the state with over 700 deputies.

Earlier this year, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the office began piloting devices from different manufacturers, both on patrol and in the Oakland County Jail. The pilot programs allow the sheriff’s office to test different devices and platforms, while collecting information to develop a consensus on what it needs for a body camera program.

For Bouchard, a device’s ability to integrate existing technology, worn and/or used by deputies, is very important so that deputies aren’t wearing so many devices. This includes integrating the technology of audio recorders, in-car devices, and county cellphones, with one device being looked at that runs on a cellular platform.

“The pilot is going to inform us on which technology works in terms of car applications and our system,” he said. “One of the things that is part of the consideration is howmany pieces of equipment you’re hanging on a deputy and how does it integrate with existing equipment we already have. There are somany different layers, including storage.”

The information collected during the pilot programs will help craft an RFP document, whichwill be issued by the end of December. Expectations are to launch a body camera program sometime early next year.

In the next few weeks, deputies patrolling Pontiac will be conducting another pilot programand test--

ing two more devices.

“We will take two different kinds of devices to the field here shortly,” he said. “None of the devices piloted in the past have really come up to what we were looking for. Some just didn’t integrate well and some were extremely expensive.”

Bouchard thinks that one of the two devices being piloted in Pontiac will meet his expectations and be able to integrate existing technologies and be cost-effective.

The implementation of a body camera program has “huge financial implications” for the state’s third-largest law enforcement agency. Based on feedback and research conducted, the sheriff said costs to implement a body camera program “vary widely,” but would be in the millions.

The county’s body program could be expanded to include a local cost sharing option for police agencies that do not have their own body camera program.

This option could help offset costs related to initial capital investment, replacement, retention and storage costs, future ongoing operations costs, and training for personnel needed to support a body worn camera program.

As of December 2019, a total 27Oakland County police agencies had an active body camera program (7), were conducting a pilot program (3), had plans to use them (3), or were actively studying their use (14).

Last month, the Southfield Police Department, the county’s second-largest police agency with 129 officers, implemented a body camera program while Waterford Township approved their use back in July.

What has changed?

Bouchard, who crafted portions of the state’s body camera law, has been hesitant about implementing a body camera program over privacy concerns, adding that the state’s inhome protections are just not enough to ensure citizen privacy. This includes residents filmed in vulnerable situations, outside the home, where they could have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

In August 2017, Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation regulating body camera usage, retention of data, who can request footage, and what information can be released.

At this point, Bouchard said that he’s not going to wait on lawmakers to act and implement the changes that he wishes to see around privacy.

“I had hoped that by the time we got done with piloting and researching different pieces of equipment that they would have tightened up the privacy to protect citizens that are caught by no fault of their own on that video,” he said.

Bouchard thinks the sheriff’s office can have a “great” body camera program that holds deputies accountable and does not violate the privacy of residents.

In 2018, a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) study found that officers equipped with bodyworn cameras received fewer complaints of misconduct, and fewer resources were spent on misconduct investigations with estimated savings of more than $4,000 per user annually.

The DOJ has also developed recommendations and guidelines for the implementation of a body worn camera program that includes provisions for the privacy of individuals, the storage of data, the consent to record and other lessons learned fromthe implementation of law enforcement programs.