Allen County Council approves funding to provide Sheriff's Department with new radios and body cameras

Clayton McMahan and Ethan Dahlen

There are 3 minutes

Allen County Sheriff's Department

ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) — Thanks to a vote by the Allen County Council Wednesday evening, the Allen County Sheriff's Department will soon have new equipment that will help officers and the public.

During Wednesday's meeting, the Allen County Sheriff's Department asked county council members for more than $2.6 million that will provide new portable radios and body cameras as well as software and equipment needed to operation and maintenance of the communication system.

“This has been a goal of the sheriff since he started running for office and when he took office. He made it very clear that he was excited about the advancement of technology,” said Sgt. Adam Griffith of the Allen County Sheriff's Department.

Griffith said the radios currently used by the department are more than 10 years old and will soon be obsolete and no longer supported by Motorola.

Allen County Councilman Ken Fries' new handheld radios will also be equipped with a GPS system which will be essential to keeping officers safe.

“As [someone who served] 34 years in law enforcement and eight years as sheriff, that sticks out to me,” Fries said. “I had friends who went on stages [and] we didn't know where those who were attacked were and it took us forever to find them.

Once the new portable radios are purchased, the current radios will be released to detention officers at the Allen County Jail who are currently using even older radios.

As for the new body cameras, Griffith said they would benefit both officers and citizens by providing transparency since current body cameras only capture audio.

“In-car cameras only capture little where they are. [new] the cameras will capture most of what the officer sees and does,” Griffith said. “Current cameras have sound – the body mic stays on the officer and you can hear what he says and some of what's happening at the scene – but you may not see it unless hasn't been in the camera's view since.

With the Allen County Council approving the funding, the Sheriff's Department will order the new equipment soon and hopes to receive it no later than five months.