The Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office was awarded a grant for new body worn cameras and the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved the funding at its November 28 business meeting.

The $148,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, requires a 50% match from the locality. For this grant, the Board approved a match of $148,000 for a total of $296,000.

The grant will cover the cost of purchasing 65 body worn camera systems, all needed equipment and cover the salary and benefits for one month to staff for the implementation of this upgrade. These cameras replace the body worn cameras purchased in 2015 and whose warranty expired in 2020.

The new V700 Model systems come with a five-year warranty, has detachable batteries with spares, can be charged at home or in the vehicle and videos can be uploaded immediately when video is saved, among other features. The V700 Model cameras also come with a wide-angle lens, eliminating the need to manually move the camera angle.
The Sheriff’s Office has 135 sworn members.

“Body worn cameras (BWC) are not new to our office but are outdated and the technology behind our current BWC is no longer supported by our vendor. According to the US Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Service there are two main reasons that police officers use Body Worn Cameras: accountability and transparency,” said Pittsylvania County Sheriff Mike Taylor.

“Footage from a BWC provides the facts surrounding an interaction between the deputy and the public we serve. Having this technology in the field puts everybody on their best behavior. Additionally, BWC increases the safety of the deputies, the public supports the technology, footage helps to prove or disprove complaints against deputies’ complaints and provides evidence in court proceedings for the court and jury members. We thank our Board of Supervisors for recognizing the need for this technology,” said Taylor.