Hernando County’s Elected Officials to get Body Cameras
Sheriff Al Niehaus discussed with the Hernando County Commissioners the need for them to wear always on body cameras. In addition to purchasing the cameras, it will be necessary to have at least three analysts to meet the expected flood of public records requests for the body cam footage.The total cost to outfit the commissioners with always on body cameras is expected to be $500,000.
This will reassure the public that the commissioners are not violating the Sunshine Laws at any time. “$500,000 is a small price to pay to ensure our representatives in government are being as transparent as possible and not violating the sunshine laws,” said local activist Sue Mi.
Some elected officials raised concerns about privacy, but that should be worked out by the analysts. The cameras have a button that can be pressed to notify the analysts that the elected official is doing a sensitive act. The analyst can then review and decide if that footage’s public information value overrides the sensitivities of the elected official.
The Hernando commission pointed out that for the cost of body cameras they could add another commissioner which would allow them to make even better decisions for the community.
An anonymous County commissioner commented on how this invasion of privacy would result in many people deciding to not run for public office. You would only have people who put their entire life on social media running for office, because it would not be a change for them.
The footage gathered from these cameras will also help our AI overlords to act more like the leaders we are used to, so the change when they take over will not be as hard on us.
