Jefferson County Sheriff | Port security cameras
The two largest camera purchases in Jefferson County's record were paid for with federal port security money: a waterway surveillance camera system in 2015 and a $415,212 aerial camera for the Sheriff's helicopter in 2021.
At a glance
- The helicopter camera
- Awarded 29 June 2021 to Wescam USA, Inc. for $415,212.00, a camera system for the Sheriff's Office Bell 407 helicopter, funded by the Port Security Grant 2020 [3]
- The waterway cameras
- Approved 2 November 2015, a Knight Security Systems Secure Plan Agreement for the Jefferson County Waterway Surveillance Camera System, $92,700.00 for a three-year plan beginning 1 November 2015, under state contract DIR-SDD-1725 [1]
- How the helicopter camera was bid
- Invitation for Bid 21-020/JW. Specifications approved 30 March 2021, the due date extended on 20 April, two bids received and filed on 18 May, the award made on 29 June [2] [3]
- What came with it
- A digital mapping system for the same helicopter, Invitation for Bid 21-021/JW, awarded at the same meeting to AeroComputers Corporation [3]
- How many waterway cameras there are, and where
- The item names the system and its price and nothing else [1]
- Whether the waterway system is still running
- The three-year plan ran to 2018. No renewal, replacement or termination appears in the Commissioners Court record read for this page [1]
- What the helicopter camera records, and for how long
- No flight, recording or retention policy has been presented to the Commissioners Court [3]
How it happened
- Decision
A camera system for the waterway
The Court approves a Knight Security Systems Secure Plan Agreement for the Jefferson County Waterway Surveillance Camera System, $92,700.00 for three years from 1 November 2015, bought under state contract DIR-SDD-1725. Motion by Commissioner Weaver, second by Commissioner Sinegal, approved unanimously. [1]
- Procurement
Specifications, funded by port security
The Court approves specifications for Invitation for Bid 21-020/JW, a camera system for the Sheriff's Office Bell 407 helicopter, and for 21-021/JW, a digital mapping system for the same aircraft. Both items state that funding is provided by the Port Security Grant 2020. [2]
- Decision
$415,212 to Wescam
The Court awards the camera system contract to Wescam USA, Inc. for $415,212.00, with funding provided by the Port Security Grant 2020, and the digital mapping system to AeroComputers Corporation. Motion by Commissioner Alfred, second by Commissioner Bush, approved by Branick, Bush and Alfred. [3]
Jefferson County is a port county. The Sabine-Neches waterway carries a large share of the nation’s refined fuel past Beaumont and Port Arthur, and the federal Port Security Grant Program pays for equipment that protects it. In this county that program is also how the Sheriff’s Office got its cameras.
In November 2015 the Commissioners Court approved a three-year agreement with Knight Security Systems for something the item calls the Jefferson County Waterway Surveillance Camera System, $92,700 under a state contract. The item names the system and the price. It does not say how many cameras there are or where they point, and no renewal appears in the record after the plan expired in 2018.
The larger purchase came six years later. In March 2021 the Court approved specifications for a camera system for the Sheriff’s Bell 407 helicopter, and the item says plainly where the money came from: the Port Security Grant 2020. Two bids arrived in May. On 29 June the Court awarded the contract to Wescam USA for $415,212, and awarded a digital mapping system for the same aircraft to AeroComputers at the same meeting.
That is the most expensive single piece of surveillance equipment in this county’s record, and no local appropriation paid for it.
What the record does not say
Nothing in the Commissioners Court’s documents describes what the helicopter camera can see, whether it records, or how long anything it records is kept. No flight policy has been presented to the Court. The grant program that bought it exists to protect port infrastructure, and the aircraft flies over the whole county.
What we do not know
- How many waterway cameras were installed, where they stand, and whether the system is still running after its three-year plan ended in 2018.
- What the helicopter camera can resolve, whether it records, and how long footage is kept.
- Whether the Sheriff's Office has any written policy governing aerial surveillance.
What you can do
Show up
Systems like this one are approved by boards, councils and committees that meet in public. We have confirmed where each of them meets in Jefferson County and how public comment works there.
How to show up in Jefferson 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. Jefferson County Commissioners Court, minutes, 2 November 2015, item 8 · Meeting record · · accessed
- 2. Jefferson County Commissioners Court, agenda, 30 March 2021, Purchasing items (b) and (c) · Meeting record · · accessed
- 3. Jefferson County Commissioners Court, minutes, 29 June 2021, Purchasing items 8 and 9 · Meeting record · · accessed
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