Thanks to an ongoing federal grant, the Hall County Sheriff's Office will be outfitting some of the department's patrol vehicles with new cameras.
Sheriff's Office spokesman Derreck Booth said the department has received the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant in the past. This year, the so-called JAG grant will go to purchase 13 in-car cameras.
"They've been earmarked for our sheriff's office traffic unit as well as our ACE unit, which is our Active Criminal Enforcement unit," Booth said.
The car cameras will be purchased from Axon, the same company that supplies the Hall County Sheriff's Office with body cameras for deputies, and Booth said the equipment will work in tandem.
"[The dash camera] can capture the road, can capture what a vehicle in front of the deputy is doing, so it really opens the spectrum of what occurs on a traffic stop from the perspective of the vehicle," Booth said, noting that a body camera is limited when activated inside a vehicle.
He also said the additional equipment should help the confidence of those who may find themselves the subject of a stop.
"This can really help the agency with accountability and help the community have more confidence in the deputy, knowing that this is all captured on camera," Booth said.
Booth said the in-car camera is designed to automatically activate when a deputy turns on emergency lights in the vehicle for a traffic stop.
The grant for the Hall County Sheriff's Office is $19,448 and is part of $1.76 million in grants distributed among 33 cities and counties in Georgia.
