La Salle County Sheriff’s Office buys body cameras worth $296,000 for deputies

La Salle County Sheriff’s Office deputies will be wearing body cameras before the beginning of the new year.

The La Salle County Board approved a five-year contract with Axon Enterprise for 40 body cameras at $296,000. Within that agreement, Axon also will store the data and provide access to the footage for the sheriff’s office and state’s attorney’s office. Axon will provide replacement cameras periodically throughout the contract.

The County Board made the purchase using American Rescue Plan Act funds.

The Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act requires deputies to have body cameras by Jan. 1, 2023.

La Salle County Sheriff Adam Diss told the County Board that as soon as the office receives them, they’ll do a short training session on how to use them before implementing them, which should be before the Jan. 1 deadline.