Sheriff's Office receives grant for body cams

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced yesterday that the state would award nearly $4.9 million to local law enforcement agencies across Ohio to help cover costs associated with body camera programs. A total of 112 law enforcement agencies will receive grant funding as part of the Ohio Body-Worn Camera Grant Program. Of those agencies, 44 will use the funding to create new body-worn camera programs, and 68 agencies will dedicate funding toward expanding or upgrading existing technology. The competitive grant process solicited grant proposals from law enforcement agencies throughout the state. Ohio's Office of Criminal Justice Services, which is administering the grant program, received $11.4 million worth of grant requests for this round of funding. All qualifying agencies that applied for grants to establish new body-worn camera programs received funding and the remaining funds went to existing programs to upgrade aging cameras, add storage capacity, or hire record-retention personnel. The Seneca County Sheriff's Office was awarded $58,888.82 in funding to seed their Body Worn Camera project. "Today's announcement builds on several projects already underway as part of our Seneca County Sheriff Office's commitment to the safety of Seneca County communities," said Seneca County Sheriff Fred Stevens. "Since taking office in 2021, our Office has launched several initiatives to help increase training, increase Deputy safety, and improve public confidence in our policing. Many Sheriff's Offices and police departments have adopted this technology to improve the quality of policing in their communities. Placing body-worn cameras (BWCs) on Deputies improves the civility of police-citizen encounters and enhances citizen perceptions of police transparency and legitimacy." Other local departments received grants: Gibsonburg Police Department received $9,908.75 towards its current BWC program Village of Carey Police Department received $6,540 towards its current BWC program