Columbia County Sheriff’s Office uses app to track use-of-force
EVANS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - For years, we’ve seen a push by our local communities for body cameras for deputies.
Of our three biggest sheriff’s offices, only Richmond and Aiken County deputies use them.
The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office announced an investment into a new app for deputies to collect data after use-of-force cases.
The sheriff told us he cannot justify the cost of body cams.
Over the last two and a half years, we found there have been 100 use-of-force incidents documented in the Columbia County jail and 63 use-of-force cases outside of the jail.
This is an app that will get used a lot.
The sheriff’s office will be the first agency in the U.S. to use the ‘Thin Blue Defend’ app to help law enforcement report use-of-force cases.
“It is not popular to be a law enforcement officer because of what we are seeing happening over the last couple of years of these constant prosecutions of officers when it’s not correct,” said Clay Whittle, sheriff.
Whittle says he is down 47 people in his agency and is hoping a newly developed app will give officers a safety net.
Douglas Parker, developer of app said: “This app was developed for the defense of officers.”
Parker is a 30-year veteran of the GBI.
“Now we have a way to collect information from a critical incident, collect it properly and use that information for reports,” he said.
He created the app after a former police officer was found not guilty of murder after shooting someone in 2018.
“The officer has to explain his or her actions for taking somebody’s life or using force,” said Parker.
Many officers are taught to be brief when documenting the use-of-force cases and are not trained to document the why.
Whittle said: “We realized that we need to capture more data.”
We asked the sheriff why Columbia County does not use body cameras.
“It has a very limited view of a 360-degree world, and it doesn’t fully capture exactly what takes place with the officer,” he said.
He says another factor is budget.
“The cost associated with it for storage and retrieval. Those hidden costs are what is truly expensive from body cams, and I just can’t justify that cost,” said Whittle.
The app will cost the county $32,000 and covers all 320 certified deputies.
Copyright 2022 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
