LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Hardin County Sheriff's deputies will begin wearing body cameras.
Traffic stops, welfare checks, or any call Hardin County deputies respond to will all be recorded through a body camera, Sheriff John Ward said.
The sheriff's office said 36 cameras were purchased with the help of community donations. $5,000 came from a family's anonymous donation and and a $2,756 check was presented to the office in March by the Saint James Regional School in Elizabethtown.
“Purchasing these cameras has been a priority for the office for quite some time but budgetary constraints have made it difficult to acquire them,” Hardin County Sheriff John Ward said in a news release Friday. “We are incredibly grateful for the community partners who have stepped up to help us fund these cameras and help us fulfill our mission of providing safer streets and a stronger community for Hardin County.”
The sheriff's office said some deputies started to wear cameras this week, and others are being trained with the cameras, and they'll go into use in the field Monday.
“These cameras will provide further transparency for the community, improve deputy safety, increase evidence quality and so much more,” Ward said in a news release. “It’s an excellent tool that we’re proud to now have at our disposal.”
Ward said the new tool's purpose is two-fold. It offers transparency to the community and is a safety tool for officers.
"Wanted to make sure individuals coming in direct contact, answering direct calls for service, make sure they have body cameras," Ward said.
On-duty deputies, detectives, and school resource officers will wear the cameras.
When cameras are activated it will begin to record with audio, and stores a full minute of video before it's turned on.
"We're happy to have this new technology available to the officers," ward said.
The sheriff's office is working to secure a grant and additional community partners to purchase more cameras.
Ward said sheriff's office would like to purchase dash cameras for deputy cruisers as well, if and when the budget allows.
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