San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies to wear body-worn cameras.

After years of pleas from the public, San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies, detectives and supervisors will soon wear body-worn cameras.

In November, Sheriff Shannon Dicus told the Daily Press that progress was being made by the department and a contractor of the cameras.

On Tuesday, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved a contract with Arizona-based Axon to supply body-worn cameras to the sheriff’s department. Axon is a major supplier of law enforcement cameras across the state.

“The sheriff’s department is excited to complete the process and see the devices on the street,” county officials said.” We appreciate the support of the board of supervisors and their partnership to ensure deputies have the best possible tools available to them.”

Body-worn camera technology is an invaluable tool and one the sheriff’s department has sought to implement for several years, sheriff’s officials said.

While a pilot camera program in 2018 resulted in positive feedback from sheriff’s deputies and the community, it also identified several technical issues that come with providing law enforcement services to a 21,000-square-mile patrol area.

Since the pilot program, the sheriff’s department has had the opportunity to identify and address issues in the request for proposal process.

Through the RFP process, Axon was identified as the vendor best capable of providing hardware, software, and data storage associated with the department's unique geographical and infrastructure challenges.

The initial deployment of the cameras will be to patrol division deputies, detectives, and supervisors. The deployment timeline will depend on the supply chain and logistical support from Axon.

The department will roll out body-worn cameras to its corrections division and other specialized units as more devices become available and as additional support capabilities are built in to support divisions.

A report released in June 2021 by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General said, “In the past decade, use-of-force events involving law enforcement officers (LEOs) have led to increased calls from legislators and the public to expand the use of body worn cameras (BWCs),” the report reads. “...(Body worn camera) programs have benefits for both LEOs and the public, in that they can hold LEOs accountable for wrongdoing as well as protect those LEOs against false accusations.”

AXON

In September 1993, TASER International was founded by CEO Rick Smith and his brother, Tom Smith, after the duo consulted with Jack Cover, former NASA scientist and inventor of the original TASER, who built energy weapons of the 1970s.

Rick Smith was inspired to launch the company after losing two high school football teammates who were shot and killed in a road rage incident.

This experience led him to seek new technologies that would enable people to protect themselves without deploying lethal force in hopes of creating a bullet-less world.

In April 2017, TASER International re-branded to Axon, which now represents a network of devices, applications, and people that are revolutionizing public safety globally, the company said.

“Our mission is to protect life. Our technologies give law enforcement the confidence, focus, and time they need to keep their communities safe,” AXON officials stated.

AXON’s connected body cameras and evidence-management cloud allow police officers to work effectively and transparently.

Every Axon product, from conducted energy weapons to body-worn cameras and the digital evidence management system Axon Evidence, integrates seamlessly with one another, complementing the systems and processes law enforcement already uses.

With the features built into Axon’s solutions, law enforcement can connect with partners, from county officials to neighboring agencies to prosecutors working a case.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies to wear body-worn cameras.