Dash cameras being installed, but negotiations with Pierce County deputies delay use
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department has bought hundreds of body cameras and dashboard cameras, but ongoing negotiations with the deputy’s union has caused a months-long delay in them being used.
In January, the County Council allocated $1.75 million for the cameras, and sheriff’s officials said they hoped the cameras would be in use by summer.
That timeline has been pushed back because of ongoing negotiations between the Sheriff’s Department and the Pierce County Deputy Sheriff’s Independent Guild.
Although the two groups say they have reached a tentative agreement on policy, they have not been able to agree on whether or how much deputies should be paid because of the addition of dash and body cameras.
Guild representatives did not respond to a request for comment. Sheriff Ed Troyer and sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Darren Moss said they could not discuss ongoing contract negotiations.
When implemented, the Sheriff’s Department will be the second law enforcement agency in Pierce County to use dashboard cameras. At least two other police departments — Gig Harbor and Tacoma — began using body cameras within the last year.
“One of the biggest things that has been talked about publicly across the entire nation is transparency and trust among the police departments, and this will bolster trust among the residents of Pierce County,” Moss said. “It will also help our patrol deputies with doing their job better, and we’ll have more evidence available.”
In July and August, Axon delivered 351 body cameras and 242 vehicle dashboard cameras to the department. That includes 11 spare body cameras and seven spare dashboard camera kits.
All sworn deputies will be required to wear body cameras, including the chiefs and sheriff. Dashboard cameras will be installed on all patrol cars but will not be in department vehicles driven by detectives.
Installation of the cameras began this week and is expected to be completed in about seven weeks.
Deputies have undergone some training classes but will need more training once they are issued body cameras, Moss said.
“Having the dash cams and the body cams tells a story. If everybody knows they’re out there and everybody is being filmed, they’ll behave better,” Troyer said. “And if there’s any issue, we can go back and look at them and see what happened. Our deputies aren’t afraid of the cameras, they’re looking forward to them.”
This story was originally published October 13, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
