Letter: NAACP president says it's time sheriff's office lives up to body camera promise
Last month, a Portage County Sherriff's deputy shot and killed a Windham women who had allegedly entered a neighbor's garage with a gun. A Garrettsville police officer responding to the incident captured a lot of what unfolded on the scene because he was equipped with a body camera. Unfortunately, some details remain unnecessarily murky, because our sherriff's department has not yet acquired body camera equipment.
Why is that still the case? Last year, Gov. Mike DeWine announced a $10 million grant program to help law enforcement agencies offset the cost of providing body camera equipment to officers — equipment that the sherriff's department said they wanted, according to a Record-Courier article at the time. Portage County commissioners urged the sherriff's office to apply for the funding.
We publicly commended the sherriff's department last year for making it a priority to purchase new body camera equipment, because when used appropriately with proper training, body cameras can help build trust and accountability between police officers and citizens. But for some unknown reason, the sherriff''s office has yet to follow through on his promise.
Trust and accountability is more important than ever, and we urge the Portage County Sherriff's department to make good on it's promise to equip our local officers with body cameras. Let's get this done.
Renee Romine, president, Portage County NAACP
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Letter: NAACP president urges Portage sheriff to get body cameras
