Tuesday, June 15, 1999

Donation will buy 4 cameras

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Officers safer with devices, sheriff says

BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Butler County Sheriff's Deputy Greg Wargo displays one of the department's new video camera in his cruiser Monday. (Dick Swaim photo) | ZOOM |

        HAMILTON — When a criminal is caught on videotape, he's more likely to land behind bars, officials say.

        That's because videotapes present evidence about what happened in an incident — and they can show not only when police acted improperly, but when a citizen's allegation of misbehavior is bogus, said Butler County Sheriff's Deputy Greg Wargo, who has been driving a cruiser equipped with one of the cameras since 1996.

        “It works both ways — and either way it goes, you can't refute it,” he said.

        Because of the advantages to law enforcement, Sheriff Harold Don Gabbard on Monday said he especially appreciated receiving a $10,000 donation from AK Steel Corp. that will pay for four more in-cruiser video cameras.

        “Any way you look at it, this is one of the best tools we have in law enforcement right here,” Sheriff Gabbard said as he was being presented with a check for the cameras Monday. “It protects the officer and it protects the citizen.”

        Col. Richard K. Jones, the sheriff's chief deputy, said the cameras also play a role in officer safety.

        If an officer is injured and unable to describe a vehicle, footage from the camera is likely to display the suspect's license plate — which can lead to capture.

        Col. Jones said the Middletown-based steel company's donation was “the biggest contribution we've ever had to the sheriff's office.”

        Brian Coughlin, executive director of the AK Steel Foundation, said the company was doing its part to be a good corporate citizen — and he challenged other businesses in the county to make similar donations to help the sheriff's office equip more cars with the cameras.

        The sheriff's office first installed two cameras in May 1996; the additional cameras purchased with AK Steel's donation will bring the total to six.

        But the department's fleet includes about 40 marked cruisers — and if there was enough money, Sheriff Gabbard said, he'd eventually like to see all of them outfitted with the cameras.

       

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