Floyd County Sheriff’s Office Among First in GA to Try Body Cameras: A Talk with the Chief Deputy

  In the months after a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri, there has been a great deal of discussion about whether law enforcement officers should wear body cameras.  Some agencies in other states have tried bodycams, but in Georgia, the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office appears to be the first local jurisdiction of significant size to do it.  (The Atlanta City Council has ordered the Atlanta Police Department to develop a plan, and Police Chief George Turner has said the department is in an “aggressive process,” but it has not yet decided on which model or vendor to choose.)

The Sheriff’s Office in Floyd County (where Rome is located) is awaiting delivery of its first 20 bodycams.  WABE’s Denis O’Hayer spoke with Tom Caldwell, the Chief Deputy in the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office.