RACINE — Racine County deputies will wear body cameras that are activated when a gun is pulled from a holster, a taser is armed or when squad lights are activated, the office announced Wednesday. The deputies will start wearing them later this year, but no formal date has been released.
The automatic technology will take some of the human element out of activating and deactivating body cameras.
The Bluetooth-driven technology will also sense additional body cameras on nearby deputies in an attempt to increase transparency, accountability and officer safety.
“This technology has the ability to increase the safety of my staff," Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said. "I am 100% committed to providing any technology that has the potential to enhance safety for everyone, especially in high stress, fluid situations.”
Last month, Mount Pleasant Police Sgt. Eric Giese learned he would not face charges for the June 15 shooting death of Ty'Rese West. Giese had used his body camera in previous incidences but did not manually activate his body camera as he pursued West for not having proper lights on his bicycle.
In an interview with the Racine County district attorney, Giese explained the body camera must be manually activated by sliding a switch on the top/front of the unit to activate it. Also noting, the body camera had not properly activated or did not properly record in previous attempts for "various reasons."
The new technology called AXON Signal was tested by the Racine County Sheriff's Office in early 2019 and received positive feedback from the department saying "it takes the guess work out of body camera activation in high stress critical incidents."
