Smart body cameras coming to Lancaster County via $1.2 million safety upgrade

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A push for better law enforcement equipment in Lancaster County was approved Tuesday.

The new set of gear in question? New body cameras for deputies with the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office.

The $1.2 million investment features body cameras with ‘Smart Connect’ technology, allowing footage to automatically sync and upload during active calls.

Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said the cameras will automatically start rolling when the lights on the cruiser turn on.

“As you can imagine in stressful situations, sometimes people can forget to push the button for the cameras to go on,” Houchin said. “So it helps when the lights go on in the cruiser, the body cam is activated and ready to use.”

Money is also being spent on cameras inside the cruisers as well.

“It also helps when you go to court and pictures are worth a thousand words, well videos are worth a million,” Houchin said.

The body cameras have become a critical tool in law enforcement, holding both the deputy and the public accountable.

“Once in a while we get complaints about what’s happening, and we’ll go watch and 99% of the time, the camera shows that the deputy did do things correctly and the person complaining wasn’t totally correct on how they observed the situation,” Houchin said.

The sheriff’s office expects to roll the new cameras out later this year — calling it a step forward in both technology and community connection.