Deputies with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office will be equipped with body cameras by this December.
Sheriff Joe Lopinto made the announcement on a Jefferson Parish Democratic Executive Committee zoom call. Lopinto says he signed a deal to purchase 500 body cameras which will cost the department $8.7 million over a five-year period.
“We did our due diligence, of not only looking for the highest quality, we are always upgrading our equipment on JPSO, and the good news is body cameras are now on the way,” said Sheriff Lopinto. “I signed an 8 point 7 million dollar contract for body cameras.”
Lopinto says his plan was always to make body cameras part of the department’s standard equipment but budget restraints made that difficult.
"We've never refused to have cameras," said Lopinto. "I inherited a three million dollar deficit... I have to prioritize those big expenditures."
The JPSO was one of the state’s largest law enforcement agencies to not have its deputies equip with body cameras.
In addition to body cameras, Lopinto also says his deputies will have dashboard cameras capable of reading licenses plates, and “cage cameras”, which are cameras in the backseat of the police car.
