KENTON, Ohio, October 23, 2019 ─ The Hardin County Sheriff’s Office, in Ohio, currently has 25 WOLFCOM body cameras deployed and Sergeant Richard Williams says they were probably one of the first departments in the country to implement these body worn security cameras. That goes to show how much they value transparency between their officers and the community they serve.
“We’ve had body cameras since 2013 or 2014. No specific incident had occurred up to that point. We were probably one of the first agencies to use body cameras in the country. The majority of our officers were fine with it [implementing a body camera program]. We all see it as a tool to help us.”
According to Sergeant Williams, they like the External Night Vision Camera. “Our favorite feature is the infrared, the night vision technology. That’s probably the main feature that we like.” The WOLFCOM External Night Vision Camera attaches right onto the Vision Body Camera, giving officers the ability to record in pitch dark.
Richard also claims to like the ease-of-use of the WOLFCOM system. “I like the ability to plug the camera in and walk away from it. Then come back a couple of minutes later and all that evidence is stored, locked down, not everybody has the access to delete it. It really helps us with prosecutions and using videos in our court cases. It’s all right there for individual officers to look at their videos.
The state of Ohio, according to the Sergeant, helped his department kickstart their body camera program. “When we first started looking into it, the state of Ohio worked out the funds, so it was up to our sheriff to manage that money to use it when the time is right. So we were able to budget around and we had that money for body cameras,” said Richard. “It’s such a useful tool for us that, really, now we gotta have those funds there,” he added.
Sergeant Williams had a few words to say about WOLFCOM. “You guys have a good product for a good price and with the way things are today, video is our best friend, not our enemy.” He also added he’s “highly likely” to refer WOLFCOM to other agencies.