Nevada County Sheriff | Body cameras
The county accepted a $123,000 federal body-camera grant for the Sheriff's Office in 2018, noting a $463,079 county match, and the office issued a request for proposals in January 2021, according to the civil grand jury. The contract that followed is not in a record we fetched.
How it happened
- Debate
Sheriff declines the 2016 grand jury recommendation
The 2021 report recounts that in 2016 the office agreed with the grand jury's findings but declined to adopt body cameras, citing cost and the absence of state legislation. [1]
- Procurement
Federal grant awarded
"In its resolution accepting the grant, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors noted that an additional $463,079.00 would be required over the three-year grant period and would come from NCSO special funds." [1]
- Procurement
Request for proposals issued
The grand jury "subsequently learned that the NCSO had issued an RFP for BWCs on January 22, 2021." [1]
What the grand jury recorded
The 2020-2021 civil grand jury reported that the office applied for a federal body-camera grant in 2018 “and was awarded $123,000.00 in September of 2018,” that “In its resolution accepting the grant, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors noted that an additional $463,079.00 would be required over the three-year grant period and would come from NCSO special funds,” and that “the NCSO had issued an RFP for BWCs on January 22, 2021.”[1] The report notes that the three city police departments “had by 2018 all successfully adopted BWCs.”[1]
What is not established
The contract awarded after the request for proposals, the vendor, the camera count, and the deployment are not in the records we fetched. The Sheriff’s response to the grand jury is an image-only PDF on the court’s site and has not been read.
Questions
- Does the Sheriff's Office have body cameras?
- The grand jury recorded a grant, a county match and a request for proposals through January 2021. Whether cameras were bought and deployed after that is not in a record we fetched. [1]
- What about the city police departments?
- The same report states that Nevada City, Truckee and Grass Valley police "had by 2018 all successfully adopted BWCs." [1]
What we do not know
- The contract awarded after the 2021 request for proposals, the vendor, and the count.
- The current body-camera policy and retention setting.
What you can do
Show up
Systems like this one are approved by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have not yet confirmed where each of them meets in Nevada County.
What we have documented in Nevada County →Protect yourself
Practical steps to shrink your personal data trail. Our guides publish at launch; until then, EFF's Surveillance Self-Defense is the best starting point.
Surveillance Self-Defense →Sources
- 1. Nevada County Grand Jury, "Nevada County Sheriff Body-Worn Cameras: Moving in Slow Motion," 2020-2021 · Primary document · · accessed · archived copy · our copy (252 KB)
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