Wake County Sheriff's Office gets $200,000 grant for body cameras

The federal government has awarded the Wake County Sheriff's Office a $200,000 grant to outfit deputies with body-worn cameras.

Posted 11:53 a.m. Oct 21, 2020 — Updated 11:55 a.m. Oct 21, 2020

The federal government has awarded the Wake County Sheriff's Office a $200,000 grant to outfit deputies with body-worn cameras.

“We are extremely excited to receive this grant from the DOJ,” said Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker.” The grant provides this agency the opportunity to not only equip our deputies with body-worn cameras, but it should remind our residents of our focus on remaining transparent and accountable, as we continue to value and build on the trust with all Wake County residents.”

In 2018, after four officers lost their jobs following the beating of Kyron Hinton, Donnie Harrison, who was sheriff at the time, pushed for more body cameras. Hinton later died in 2019 of apparent homicide, according to an autopsy.

'So many advantages': Wake sheriff plans to outfit all deputies with body cams

With the more recent killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, among many other Black lives, officers' transparency has become even more important, with departments across the country reexamining their policies.

According to the Wake County Sheriff's Office, the cameras themselves cost up to $1,000 apiece, but there are additional fees for storing the video, mounting the cameras and installing the software.

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