12/9/2020 2:23:00 AM Sheriff's Office To Get Body Cameras, Tazers, Phone App
Sheriff Bill Beam
Field Training Officer Michael Allred and Forensic Investigator Dylan Houser model the new body cams.
Wayne Howard Staff Writer
"There's an app for that!" or soon there will be.
The Lincoln County Commissioners gave their OK for Sheriff Bill Beam to proceed with plans for a phone app for the Sheriff's Office. The app will make accessing information and forms already available online easier and quicker to see on smartphones.
From the popular 'Who's In Jail' list of inmates to applications for employment, for a concealed carry permit or for a pistol purchase permit, many items will be easier to access thanks to the new app that will be available for both iPhones and Android phones very soon.
Sheriff Beam also got approval for purchasing body cameras and new non-lethal tazers for all his deputies. (CLICK HEREto see video.) The deputies will each be assigned a body camera and a tazer; they won't have to share. That way they'll always be ready to answer calls with their body camera and tazer as well as their service weapon.
With almost everyone having a cellphone these days, videos are made of almost any incident involving law enforcement. Having a body camera will assure that the Sheriff's Office has a complete recording or any and all encounters that provide complete unedited video. The body camera videos may also be useful in prosecuting cases, the Sheriff said. City of Lincolnton police officers already had body cameras as did most other area law enforcement agencies.
"The body cams and app are just getting us up to date with the times," Sheriff Beam told us.
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