Montgomery Co. Sheriff’s Office, ALEA Using Body Cameras on Officers

WAKA Action 8 News,
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by WAKA Action 8 News

Questions are being raised about the death of Texas woman Sandra Bland, who was found dead in her jail cell. 

But it’s her arrest, captured on a state trooper’s dashcam, that’s sparked a national debate on law enforcement procedure. 

Would the arrest have gone differently if the trooper was wearing a body camera?
 
Sheriff Derrick Cunningham ordered body cameras for the sheriff’s office back in January and the department just received a shipment of them yesterday. 
He says he hopes the cameras will allow his office to be more transparent. 
 
Recently released video of the arrest of 28-year-old Sandra Bland by a Texas state trooper has gone viral.
 
Many are now questioning police procedure and debating the DOS and DONTS when engaging with law enforcement. 
 
Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham says he never wants his office to be at the center of similar controversy. 
 
“You see everything on the dash cam video on that incident until they move away from the dash cam and then your body cam would come in handy because you can see everything.”
 
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office just received a shipment of body cameras. Cunningham says they’ll help protect both the public and his officers.   
 
“You want to have transparency. You don’t want people to second guess. All it takes is one person to cast some type of doubt or a shadow over that one officer…”
 
ALEA Secretary Spencer Collier says he supports the use of body cameras in law enforcement. 
 
“There’s generally two sides to every story in a situation and that camera’s not going to lie.”
 
He says the state has about 400 of them and says the goal is to have cameras on every trooper.
 
“Its going to help investigate a crime scene. Were going to capture it at least on the officers initial approach.”
 
People we spoke with say they believe the cameras will benefit the Sheriff’s Office.
 
“You’ll be able to see everything,” said Montgomery resident Tamario Morris. “Everything that was going on, said and all.”
 
“I think that if you know that you’re on camera, you’re going to put on your best face,” said resident Beth Harris. 
 
The body cameras are $400 each but the Montgomery Country Sheriff’s Office got a great deal on them. 
 
They bought six and got 80 for free. They were upgrading their dash cam software and the company doing it wanted the sheriff’s office to test and evaluate the body cameras, so they made a deal. 
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