Since taking office in January 2015, Grayson County Sheriff Norman Chaffins has expressed an interest in the sheriff’s office utilizing body cameras, and beginning next week, that interest will become reality.
Chaffins announced on Tuesday that the Axon Company has teamed up with the GCSO and offered a one-year free trial of the Body Worn Cameras. Initially, there will be six deputies that will don the cameras.
Chaffins said after the trial period is over, the sheriff’s office command staff will decide if the cameras are worth the cost of buying and maintaining.
“The use of Body Worn Cameras has been a consideration since I took office,” Chaffins said. “We now have an opportunity offered by the Axon Company to give them a test run to see if it would benefit the public and this office before we place (the expense) in our budget. Additionally, we feel that BWCs are a good tool for our deputies to document police activity and to be more transparent when it comes to police/citizen interaction.”
The trial run for the body cameras will begin Sept. 1.
