COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine announced on Thursday $5 million in grants is available to help law enforcement agencies in the state invest in body camera equipment and help pay for related expenses.
The Ohio Department of Public Safety's Office of Criminal Justice Services is accepting applications for a second round of the Ohio Body-Worn Camera Grant Program.
The program is designed to help local law enforcement agencies with the costs of camera equipment, video storage, public record management personnel and more.
DeWine said the objective is to help agencies that cannot afford to purchase body cameras and everything that comes with them.
"Our goal is to help as many local agencies as possible with the costs to improve current body-worn camera technology or launch new programs," DeWine said in a release.
This is the second time the governor has made funds available for agencies to purchase body cameras. In January, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office was one of more than 100 agencies that received the grants. The sheriff's office received $232,000.
DeWine said the grants to purchase the following:
- Body-worn cameras (dashboard cameras are excluded) and related hardware and software for officers who regularly interact with the public
- Video storage mechanisms such as servers or cloud service
- Redacting software/service
- Editing/tagging software
- IT costs to support the program
- Consultant fees for camera programming and storage setup
- Maintenance and support fees
- Contract/consultant for programming/installation, training, technical assistance
- Personnel costs
