MADISON, Wis. — The Dane County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) is closer to getting body-worn cameras for dozens of deputies.
The $320,000 body-worn camera pilot project was approved in November and will come out of Dane County’s budget. It’s a one-year program that will equip 32 sheriff’s deputies with body-worn cameras. All those deputies will be from the West Precinct, which covers the western half of the county.
A start date of the pilot project has not been revealed. DCSO is required to hold two public meetings before purchasing the body-worn cameras.
The first meeting is Feb. 15, the second is Feb. 29. Both begin at 6 p.m. at the Town of Middleton’s Town Hall (located at 7555 Old Sauk Road). The Sheriff’s Office DCSO will share details about the body-worn cameras and how they’ll be used.
Dane County sheriff Kalvin Barrett expressed hope that the pilot program will lead to the entire department getting body-worn cameras.
He said he’ll use the pilot project to develop the best policies and guidelines for using them.
“It is time to evolve with the times and get body-worn cameras on our deputies, as well as on our deputies that are working in our jail facilities,” said Barrett. “It helps with building relationships and continuing to keep the trust of the community. We want to be transparent with what we do and how we do things, and the body worn cameras are one of the main ways to do that.”
Dane County sheriff’s deputy Joshua Coyne works out of the West Precinct, so he’ll be part of the pilot project.
He’s never worn a body-camera before. As of now, he is equipped with an audio recording device and a dashboard camera. He said those tools can be limiting at times.
“When we get in certain incidents, we are off of the dash camera, but now, by wearing the body cameras, I can also be recording video when I am outside the lens of the camera on our squad car,” said Coyne.
Coyne also said body-worn cameras could be a useful tool when collecting evidence.
“For domestic related incidents and OWI investigations,” said Coyne. “We have a lot of great deputies doing fantastic police work and I think the body cameras will show the positive interactions we have with the community as well.”
Not everyone supports the addition of body-worn cameras. There have been some Dane County elected officials and community members who have expressed disappointment that the county is funding the pilot project. They said they have concerns over privacy and improper use of body cameras.
The Madison Police Department is also currently piloting body-worn cameras. The Verona and Middleton Police Departments in the West Precinct already use body-worn cameras.