County Faces Costly Upgrades for Sheriff’s Dept. Cameras

The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office needs to replace their body-worn and in-car cameras. It won’t be cheap, either.

Last Thursday, the Sheriff’s Office presented the Commissioners Court with a bid from Motorola to replace the camera system. The total cost would be $978,205.20. After negotiating some discounts and trade-ins, the Sheriff’s Office got Motorola to drop the price to $700,685.79.

“Our current system is approximately 10 years old,” said Sgt. Mark Zimmerman, who heads up fleet maintenance for the Sheriff’s Office. “As you know, technology changes. When we started, (the system) was Watch Guard. Watch guard got bought out by Motorola. In 2022, they put an end-of-life to our body cameras, and you cannot get them any more.”

Zimmerman said the Sheriff’s Office has been lucky to find some used equipment to replace cameras that stopped working. Last year, he said, the in-car cameras reached their official end-of-life, meaning the manufacturer will no longer support them. In addition, he said their server used to manage evidence inventory is outdated.

“We’re at the point where we have to replace these,” he said.

The request comes just as the Commissioners Court is beginning to formulate next year’s County budget. The camera and technology upgrades for the Sheriff’s Office will likely be one of the largest expenses. Zimmerman said Motorola offered to finance the purchase at no interest over five years.

Fayette County Emergency Management Coordinator Angela Hahn said there are some grants available that could help pay for the cameras. However, she said those grants prioritize agencies that do not currently have body cameras. Fayette County might not rank highly for a grant award, she said. If Fayette County were to get an award, the funding would not be available until late next year, she said.

Fayette County Information Technology Director Kevin Wunderlich said the County should be prepared for more recurring upgrades due to the rapid pace of technology improvements.

“This is going to be an every- five-year deal probably,” Wunderlich said. “It might not be as much because you won’t have to replace all the equipment at the same time again. But you can expect a big bill every five years.”

The Commissioners discussed different ways to pay for the purchase, such as possibly purchasing the bodyworn cameras next year and the in-car cameras the following year. They also asked the Sheriff’s Office to seek bids from competing vendors.

The Court took no immediate action but agreed to discuss the purchase at a future meeting after receiving competing bids and additional details about possible grant funding.