Smith County Sheriff’s Office Awarded Grant for Body Cameras

TYLER — Smith County commissioners accepted a grant from the criminal justice department of the Governor’s office on Tuesday. It will fund body cameras for the Smith County Sheriff’s Office. “This system will work in conjunction with the systems that we have in our car, the dash cam equipment,” says Chief Deputy Robert Carlson. According to KETK, it will cost more than $117,180 and the grant will fund about $93,750 of that. The county will be responsible for 20% of the total, which is about $23,400. It will cover everything needed for the camera system as well as training.

“Not only the 51 cameras that would outfit our patrol division but also the equipment that our it department director had deemed necessary to download the equipment and also the storage and retrieval for evidentiary purposes,” says Carlson. Carlson says he hopes the department will have the cameras by the end of this summer.