Three Indiana law enforcement agencies — the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department (ECSD), Goshen Police Department and Elkhart City Police Department (EPD) — are in various stages of adding body cameras to their force.
The ECSD will have 70 new body cameras on duty by the end of November, according to the Elkhart Truth.
On Saturday, Nov. 8, the Elkhart County Council gave the ECSD the green light to use about $70,000 from the county misdemeanant fund to purchase the equipment.
Meanwhile, the Goshen Police Department has been using body cameras since 2011.
Ideally, all 53 officers in the department would be issued a camera, but “the number in use daily varies depending cameras out for repair or those no longer functioning,” administrative assistant Tina Kingsbury wrote.
In September, the department received $4,000 from the Goshen Elks to purchase three updated body cams. Kingsbury said the hope is to eventually upgrade all of the recording technology as the current equipment ages out.
The EPD is still testing the equipment, rotating a single camera between several officers, the Elkhart Truth reported. Testing is expected to finish in 2015.
