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Paulding County reviews Motorola in‑car and body‑worn camera purchases, notes grant support and recurring data costs
Summary
An unidentified representative from the sheriff’s office described plans to buy 25 in‑car camera systems ($273,500) and 150 body‑worn cameras ($594,082), the latter partially reimbursed by a Bureau of Justice Assistance grant; officials flagged multi‑year subscription/storage fees and rollout timing tied to vehicle upfitting.
An unidentified representative of the sheriff’s office told the Paulding County Board of Commissioners that the county plans to outfit recently purchased patrol vehicles with 25 Motorola in‑car camera systems and to buy 150 Motorola body‑worn cameras for deputies and jailers.
The in‑car systems, presented as a Sourcewell contract purchase totaling $273,500, include interior and forward-facing cameras and an integrated body camera in the purchase price, the presenter said. The county intends to add the systems to recently approved patrol vehicle purchases to create a uniform, interoperable platform with the county’s Motorola radios and other equipment.
The proposed purchase of 150 body‑worn cameras is priced at $594,082 and will be funded through the general fund. The sheriff’s office representative said that the purchase is covered in part by a matching grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance; roughly half the cost (about $297,000) will be reimbursed after purchase. “This was a matching grant… $297,000 comes from the Bureau of Justice Assistance,” the presenter said.
Officials said the cameras will be distributed to patrol deputies and jailers and were described as clip‑on units intended to increase transparency and officer safety. The sheriff’s office representative said the devices should improve complaint resolution and provide objective evidence in incidents: “If they did something wrong, obviously, we’ll take care of it. If they didn’t, then we show the video to the person,” the presenter said.
Board members and staff asked about timing and recurring costs. The presenter estimated vehicle upfitting and rollout could take roughly six months for each car and noted severe delays in upfitting since COVID that have left some vehicles out of service while awaiting completion. He also said the system will rely on wireless downloads and off‑site storage, requiring subscription and data‑storage fees. An attendee noted the sheriff’s office currently stores very large volumes of evidence and that data storage and subscription costs will be an ongoing budget consideration.
No formal vote on these purchases is recorded in the public portion of the transcript; the sheriff’s office representative indicated implementation steps and rollout schedules would follow procurement and upfitting milestones. The presentation included an offer to show the equipment to commissioners and stated staff will continue work on implementation details and policy for camera activation and data retention.
What’s next: staff and the sheriff’s office will proceed with procurement planning and implementation steps; the board did not record a final public vote in the transcript provided.
