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ELKINS -- The Randolph County Commission agreed to purchase body cameras for the Randolph County Sheriff's Department Thursday.
Commission President Chris See and fellow commissioners Cris Siler and David Kesling voted unanimously to purchase 20 cameras for the RCSD at a cost of $93,265.43.
"This has been a long time coming and we've been working on this for a while," Randolph County Sheriff Rob Elbon said. "I want the cameras so we will be able to justify my guys' actions when they're out there (on patrol) and to show what's really happening. I think it's a great thing."
Elbon said he asked Lt. B.A. Talkington to lead the search for body cams and to come up with bids for the units. The sheriff applauded Talkington for the hard work he put into finding the best deal for the county.
The low bid for the new cameras came from Axon, which happens to be the same company that supplies the RCSD with its tasers.
"I reached out to Axon because we already have tasers with them and we are established with them," said Talkington. "They have an outstanding maintenance department that helps us with everything and their tech department is ready and available anytime you call."
With the purchase, Axon will maintain the storage needed for all the cameras' recordings for up to 15 years. The cameras will also sync with each deputies' taser and firearm, so that if one of those items are pulled from a holster, the cameras will automatically begin recording.
Axon will also take the cameras back after 2 1/2 years and supply the department with new ones as part of the company's refresh program. If an upgrade has been made to the camera's during that time, the sheriff's department will receive the newest models and no additional costs. After five years the refresh program will once again send the department new cams. After receiving new cameras at the five-year mark, the cameras will be under warranty for another five years.
"You're looking at 10 years of coverage for these cameras," said Talkington. "The other company I reached out to about these cameras just couldn't offer us everything Axon could."
Talkington pointed out some statistics that go hand-and-hand with the use of body cameras.
"Departments that have Axion cameras see complaints go down 88 percent," he said. "Use-of-force incidents go down 75 percent and they attribute that to the fact that people don't want to be recorded while they are doing something wrong. They are more likely to comply because they know they are being recorded and that's good evidence.
"Plea agreements are up 20 percent with the use of body cams. So 20 percent of the defendants who are coming into court are going to accept a plea agreement because they know we have video evidence of what they did. And convictions are up 80 percent because with video evidence it is hard to refute anything."
The initial quote for the cameras was $124,900. But because the Randolph County Sheriff's Department purchased its tasers through the company, Axion provided a discount on the cams. The money for the purchase of the cameras will be taken from the courthouse contractual fund.
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The commission also unanimously approved the hiring of two new deputies for the Sheriff's Department.
James Wolfe and Seth Davis will both be joining the RCSD as soon as they work out notices with their current employers. Neither will need additional training, and both will be able to begin work immediately.
Wolfe is currently a trooper with the West Virginia State Police, while Davis is a member of the Elkins Police Department. The two new hires fill all the open positions with the sheriff's department.
Once the two join the staff, the department will have a total of 17 full-time deputies and one part-timer. The two new officers will both start at $44,000 per year and will be on a one-year probationary period.
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The commission also unanimously approved the purchase of four new bulletproof vests and two new tasers for the sheriff's department.
Two of the vests will go to animal control officers and will cost $1,300. The other two are higher-grade and will be for the newly hired sheriff deputies at a cost of $2,680. The two new tasers are also for the new officers and will cost $10,151.93.
Funding for all six of the items will come from the courthouse contractual fund.