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Although there currently is no mandate from New Jersey's attorney general to equip county jails with the devices, Cureton said the 80 cameras for his corrections officers reflect a “growing trend” in law enforcement toward transparency.
On one hand, the sheriff said, bodycams protect against bogus allegations of assault and/or improper conduct against the officers.
At the same time, they protect inmates from unjust treatment, he said.
The cameras “serve the agency as a training tool and reduce the amount of internal affairs investigation involving officers,” Cureton said.
In the end, he said: “People who know they are being observed and recorded on video tend to act better than those not under observation.”
Surveillance cameras put the lie to an inmate’s accusations in a lawsuit that sheriff’s officers beat and pepper-sprayed him when he refused to wear a straitjacket, investigators have said.
Body cameras would’ve been even more conclusive, Cureton said.
Although the sheriff has already purchased 80 cameras for Axon $500,000, including outfitting, from his department’s capital budget, he anticipates needing more as an agreed-upon transfer of inmates from the soon-closing Passaic County Jail continues.
SEE: Bail Reform Fuels Deal For Bergen County Jail To House Passaic County Inmates
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