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The Pipestone County Sheriff’s Office expects to have body cameras for its officers early next year.
The cameras are part of a purchase approved by the Pipestone County Commissioners during their Nov. 25 meeting that also includes a new records management system and computer aided dispatching and mobile system, and new cameras for squad vehicles, new cameras for interview rooms at the Sheriff’s Office and cameras for jailers. The equipment will come from Motorola and cost $264,935 the first year and a total of $1,014,116 over the course of a 10-year contract. Of that, $820,000 is for the records management and computer aided dispatch equipment, and $194,116 is for the squad and body cameras.
Chief Deputy Mike Hamann said the first-year costs will be paid for with local tax money that was set aside for communication upgrades, one-time public safety aid from the state that was set aside for body cameras, 911 funds, and other sources. He said the annual subscription costs for the records management and computer aided dispatching and mobile systems will be paid for with ongoing 911 funding. The annual subscription costs for the body cameras, squad cameras and interview room camera will be less than the previous yearly cost of the records management, computer aided dispatching and mobile system, which will now be paid with 911 funds, so it’s not expected to have much impat on the budget.
Hamann said the dispatching software the Sheriff’s Office has used since 2014 is coming to the end of its life. He said the Sheriff’s Office started looking for a new records management system and computer aided dispatch software in 2022.
He said the Sheriff’s Office had been discussing body cameras for about four years and ultimately merged the dispatching and records management project with the body camera project. The Sheriff’s Office looked into companies to provide such equipment and narrowed it down to two options. The Motorola equipment was the lowest cost and preferred option.
Hamann and Lt. Edison Dengler said some of the features of the equipment include mapping of the locations of squad vehicles and deputies on foot, interoperability with other local agencies such as ambulances and fire departments through smart phones, auto population of license information, increased evidence storage, and redaction software that removes or obscures background people or items from videos and can also search for items in videos.
Dengler said the body cameras and squad cameras turn on when emergency lights are activated in the squad vehicles and that if the officer is out of the vehicle, they can turn it on manually. Video from the cameras is automatically downloaded.
Dengler said he expected that the body cameras and squad cameras will be operational by February. The records management system and computer-aided dispatch system are expected to go live in January of 2027.
Hamann said local officers were supportive of the body cameras. County Commissioners also expressed support.
“Our officers deserve to have the tools they need to be effective in their job and this is a huge tool as far as I’m concerned,” said Commissioner Dan Wildermuth.