Concordia Parish Sheriff's Office issued grant for new body cameras

The Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office was awarded a grant of $34,640 by The Department of Homeland Security to purchase new body cameras.

Chief Deputy David Hedrick said he is looking forward to this new upgrade.

“We encourage all, any type of technology we can get that’s gonna give us an advantage over the bad guy, to solve crimes, to gather information, we’re all for it,” said Hedrick.

CPSO will be equipped with an upgraded model of the Axon Body 2 cameras. The HD cameras will be used to help law enforcement get an accurate depiction of what each crime scene interaction looks like.

“It’s a piece that’s gonna allow us to get a better picture of what happens on the scene,” said Hedrick.

The footage recorded from each interaction will be downloaded at the Sheriff’s Office and viewed when needed to make sure all officers are following protocol.

Deputy Craig Southern said, “We’ve got the date, time, serial number, which is assigned to the officer.”

If a civilian files a complaint about an encounter they had with an officer, the video will be used to evaluate the police officer’s performance in the situation.

“The chain of command can come back and pull this video, and see exactly what happened at the traffic stop. Or any other event,” said Deputy Southern.

Chief Hedrick said that although body cameras are more accurate than eyewitness testimony, it still has its own flaws.

“It’s not gonna show everything because sometimes people cut the cameras on before, or they cut ‘em on too late,” said Chief Hedrick.

The new body cameras will be issued in March 2020.