The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office is equipping its deputies with body-worn cameras. The sheriff's office says the public will see them on deputies' uniforms as early as tomorrow.
"We are excited to equip our deputies with this essential tool," Sheriff Randy Smith said. "This tool will help increase and promote transparency and accountability within the ranks and within the community we serve. Body cameras put everyone, deputies and citizens alike, on their best behavior."
The sheriff's office signed a $1.6 million, five year contract with Axon Enterprise (formerly TASER International) for the hardware, training, and storage and records management for the cameras and the footage they record.
Sheriff Smith says body-worn cameras have been a priority of his since he took office in 2016. The sheriff said when he was unable to find grants to fund the cameras, he made cuts in other areas of the sheriff's office's general fund to pay for the program.
Sheriff calls it 'essential tool' for transparency




