UPPER MARLBORO, Md. 鈥� They may be associated with legal paperwork and courthouse security, but sheriff鈥檚 deputies can also be thrown into some of the most volatile situations faced by law enforcement.
Because of the high-stakes interactions, some are now getting body cameras.
The Prince George鈥檚 County Sheriff’s Office announced it plans to put body cameras on all 264 of its deputies, starting with those in the Domestic Violence Unit, which responds to 911 calls about domestic violence in parts of the county.
鈥淭he most difficult, challenging call that an officer responds to is a domestic violence call,鈥� said Prince George鈥檚 County Sheriff Melvin High. He said he wanted to equip deputies with the cameras 鈥渟o that we have ultimately the best view, the best evidence, of what transpired in that circumstance.鈥�
Deputies鈥� other duties include serving criminal warrants and dealing with evictions and child support payments.
The goal is for all county deputies to have the devices by June of next year.
鈥淲e have 150 cameras but we鈥檙e going to slowly get them rolled out,鈥� said Lt. Brian Endlich, who leads the office鈥檚 training division. 鈥淪o the most important part for us now is to train every single deputy on how to use the camera.鈥�
He said a new policy dictates that cameras must be turned on during calls for service and while serving court orders. Deputies can also choose to turn cameras on in other situations; the camera is always active and will save the 30 seconds of video it captured prior to the record button being pressed.
鈥淚 like to believe that our deputies are already interacting in the most appropriate way,鈥� Endlich said, 鈥渂ut I think it鈥檚 going to heighten deputies and it鈥檚 also going to heighten citizens,鈥� who may behave differently when they see they鈥檙e being recorded.
While the cameras are not a cure-all, they are an important tool for building trust, High said. 鈥淚 want to make sure that the community understands that we鈥檙e open, we鈥檙e transparent, and so we don鈥檛 mind saying 鈥榣ook at us.'”
County Executive Rushern Baker echoed the sheriff鈥檚 remarks. 鈥淗ow do you want to build community trust? You bring the community in. When you make mistakes you admit it,鈥� he said.
The sheriff鈥檚 office works alongside Prince George’s County police. The police department says the testing phase for a body camera program for its much larger force of 1,700 officers is complete, and that it now is working on a 鈥減hased implementation鈥� of the cameras.
