By the end of 2022, every McHenry County sheriff’s deputies will be equipped with a body-worn camera following a new state law that requires each police officer in Illinois to wear a camera when interacting with the public by 2025.
The deadline for the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office – because the population it serves falls between 100,000 and 500,000 people – is Jan. 1, 2023.
“Our hope is to secure the equipment in the second quarter of 2022 and roll them out by the third quarter of 2022,” McHenry County Sheriff’s Chief of Operations John Miller said.
The sheriff’s office expects the purchase to cost $600,000, spokeswoman Emily Matusek said. Beyond the equipment itself, the sheriff’s office also will be adding additional costs to maintain the cameras and store data. Two additional employees will be hired to manage the cameras. Miller said they looking at their camera options, including a system similar to their current in-car cameras.
“When an officer makes a traffic stop, the video is immediately offloaded by cellular signal by a squad car. We’re hoping we can get something similar from body camera solutions,” Miller said.