Marin Sheriff's Deputies to Be Outfitted With Body Cameras

By Bay City News Service:

The Marin County Board of Supervisors Tuesday morning unanimously approved a contract to purchase 100 body cameras for the county sheriff's office.

The five-year contract with Taser International begins June 1. Arizona-based Taser International agreed to give the county a 20 percent discount on the cost of equipment and first-year data storage fees. The company also agreed to replace all 100 cameras once during the contract period when evolving technology improves video quality and existing miniature equipment.

The sheriff's office will also retire its antiquated 2G cellphones that deputies currently use on patrol and replace them with iPhones whose user profiles will be linked to individual Taser accounts.

Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle said the sheriff's office began plans to buy the body cameras last year and the Marin County Deputy Sheriffs' Association agrees with the change.

The first-year cost of the body camera program is $205,807 and includes a one-time cost of equipment, data service and cellphone service fees.

The cost in each of the next four years is $189,440. The maximum cost to the county for the program will not exceed $686,777. "The money is well-spent," Supervisor Kathrin Sears said. There were no public comments on the issue at the board's meeting this morning.