Madison County Sheriff John Mehr discusses new body cameras

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — The Madison County Sheriff’s Office recently received a federal grant of $160,000 for body cameras.

“We had looked at body cams when I first came in office. I looked at the technology, but I also knew how much it costs to operate a system in a department,” said Madison County Sheriff John Mehr.

Mehr says they’re not sure what model they will be using yet, but they do know what system.

“We’re going to a Watchguard system for the in-car cameras, and then these cameras will be Watchguard also,” Mehr said.

He says several agencies will be using these body cameras.

“This is a three year program. We’ll grow as we go. We’ll start with SROs in the first phase, and then we’ll go into the patrol division, then we’ll go into the warrants division and continue to grow,” Mehr said.

The grant will help them get almost 80 body cameras.

“We’ll end up with around 80 cameras to start,” Mehr said. “We’ll have to add as we go. This is a start, and it will help offset the cost and they have come down in price.”

He also says the video will be used in court cases.

“For court purposes, we’ve already had to go and look at making policies for the use of them and how we can decipher information and get it to the DA and to the attorneys,” Mehr said.

Mehr says it will take a few months for the department to receive the body cameras due to COVID-19 and a shortage of supplies.

You can find more local news through the WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News app.