The McHenry County Board’s Law and Justice Committee recommended accepting a $48,000 state grant to buy 12 surveillance cameras to help sheriff’s deputies document evidence and arrests.
The cameras, which can record sound and video images, would be mounted in the front of squad cars and turned on at officers’ discretion.
Richard Weinhandl, assistant administrator in the Sheriff’s Department, said six squad cars already have the cameras.
“They help increase the conviction rate significantly,” Weinhandl said because jurors can see for themselves a suspect’s behavior. In drunken driving arrests, for instance, juries can be shown how a suspect was driving immediately before the arrest, witness field-sobriety tests and hear the suspect’s responses to officers’ questions.
The County Board will address the issue at its Feb. 15 meeting.