Sheriff Lutz: Deputies Need Body Cameras

If you encounter a Muskingum County Sheriff’s Deputy in the near future, he or she may be wearing a body camera.

The Sheriff’s Office has been exploring the idea of body cameras for a while. Amid national controversy surrounding policing, they are ready to add the new tools to their uniforms permanently. Sheriff Matt Lutz met with the county commissioners Monday to discuss funding for the devices.

“They are very expensive, not only are the cameras, the cameras are actually the relatively cheap part of it to put them on of officers, the problem is the storage of the data, and what to do with the data, we have a couple different options and we’re weighing those options right now, one of the options is evidence.com,” Lutz said.

Lutz said cruiser cameras are limited, so the body cams will be an effective way to provide safety while out in the field. More than 4,000 police departments nationwide are using body cameras.

“It’s for the protection of the officer and the protection of our citizens,” Lutz said. “Our job is to provide a safe environment for our citizens to live in, and we also want to provide the safest environment we can for our officers with new equipment and training, and so the cameras will just provide that safe environment for everybody involved.”

Lutz said he hopes to have his deputies equipped with cameras in the next month.