Hoke County deputies get body cameras, more car cameras
RAEFORD, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Hoke County Sheriff's department is equipping deputies, including school resource officers, with body cameras.
"We're not hiding behind anything," said Sheriff Hubert Peterkin during a Wednesday press conference. "This shows that we're not hiding. This shows that we're willing to go up front and do what we need to do."
The $200,000 investment is funded through county drug busts, and includes 30 new car cameras. Fifteen body cams will be rotated between SROs at the middle schools and Hoke High School, as well as special operations teams and deputies who serve warrants.
Peterkin said he's wanted the technology for years, but was just recently able to afford it. In the past, the department's initial allotment of five car cameras through a Highway Safety Team grant has proven beneficial.
"Just for example, we've had people complain and say officers did certain things on a traffic stop that had an in-car camera system," he said. "The person would say that certain thing was said, and certain things were done. We go back and play it. We find out it was not true what was said and what was done. Also on the flip-side of that, there were times when we were able to see when an officer was wrong."
The body cameras were purchased for about $300 each, and are about as small as a cell phone, offering a wide-angle view of what's in front of a deputy. They can be clipped to the chest, and a separate remote control allows the deputy to start and stop recording, as well as take still pictures. The recording is saved to a memory card that's turned in at the end of a shift. Peterkin said a third party officer downloads the images to a password-encrypted site, where it can be archived.
Sgt. Steve Lynn supervises SROs, and said it will be common practice to start recording during high traffic times at the schools, including before and after school, and during the lunch period. Deputies can begin recording any time, though. Lynn said he welcomes the extra set of eyes holding him and students accountable for their actions.
"I want to treat people just like I want to be treated," he said.
"This type of technology takes the 'he said she said' out of the questions," added Peterkin.
Rowenia Sinclair said that's a good way to describe the benefits of the technology. She's mother to a rising eighth-grader at East Hoke Middle School, where many parents seemed on-board with the idea as they awaited a Wednesday night open house.
"Now, I don't have to wonder, be concerned about 'if it happened, if it did not happen,'" she said. "You'll know for sure."
Body camera technology is still new to law enforcement agencies in North Carolina. Currently Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Charlotte officers use it, but Peterkin's department is the first of its size to implement the technology.
The sheriff said, when he initially brought the idea to the table more than six months ago, he received some pushback from the staff. He said their stance on it changed following the uproar surrounding recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, and the national conversation revolving around law enforcement/citizen relationships.
"When it's one person's word against the other, you got to reconstruct stuff without any proof, any evidence...that's hard," he said. "But this is it. I think this is one of the ways of the future. You're going to see more officers, more departments going into this type of thing."
The American Civil Liberties Union has weighed in on the technology as it's seemingly in higher demand across the country.
"Police body cameras can be an effective tool for promoting accountability and transparency, but only if strong policies are in place to protect against abuse," said Mike Meno, Communications Director for the ACLU of North Carolina. "Officers should not be allowed to censor the recordings, the video s should be accessible to the public when necessary, and measures should be taken to protect the privacy of any individuals recorded when appropriate."
Peterkin addressed those concerns Wednesday, saying the third party responsible for downloading material is one step toward transparency. He also said officers will be forbidden from recording in private areas, such as bathrooms.
The sheriff also noted the technology would have been helpful several weeks ago, when the office had a fatal officer-involved shooting that ended in death of 33-year-old Sandy James McCall. The office said their deputy was investigating a suspicious person report when an altercation occurred between the men near the intersection of Rockfish Road and U.S. Highway 401. The events leading up to the shooting remain unclear as it's investigated by the State Bureau of Investigations.
"I wish we'd had them then," said Peterkin.
Training on the body cameras continues this week, and deputies are expected to use them in the coming weeks, and in time for the start of the school year.
