With help from a federal grant, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections will be adding a body-worn camera program for certain staff members.
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Acting Secretary George Little announced Friday that the department will be buying 45 cameras and associated accessories, video storage, and training.
Criminal investigators, K-9 parole agents, and K-9 sergeants attached to the Bureau of Investigations and Intelligence who operate outside of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections prisons will wear body-worn cameras.
“Adding body cameras to the enforcement arm of the DOC is one way to build trust and legitimacy among the public we serve,” said Little. “The technology also provides another tool to assist in the documentation of evidence, interactions, and conditions as investigators work to keep dangerous drugs out of our facilities.”
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Corrections officials have said implementation of the body-worn cameras is expected in the first quarter of 2023.
The department is using $90,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance that was sub-granted through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections will have to match $90,000 to fund the program.
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State and local correctional facilities have been fighting illegal drugs that have made their way into prisons.
Body-worn cameras have become more widespread in law enforcement, including most of Bucks County’s largest police departments.
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