Body Cameras for STPSO

In an effort to improve transparency, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office is equipping its enforcement deputies with body cameras, and citizens will begin seeing them in use as early as this week. As one of his first actions for the new fiscal year, Sheriff Randy Smith signed a contract to purchase body camera for all patrol, traffic and civil deputies. The $1.6 million, five-year contract includes not only the cameras, but also the necessary training and, more importantly, the storage and records management for the cameras and footage. Sheriff Smith said purchasing body cameras has been one of his priorities since taking office in 2016, and when he exhausted all opportunities for grant funding to purchase the cameras, he made the cuts necessary to find the money in the agency’s general fund to purchase the cameras. Sheriff Smith said body cameras help to put everyone, deputies and citizens alike, on their best behavior.