Clark County Sheriff | Body-worn and vehicle cameras
A voter-approved sales tax, a unanimous council vote, a five-year Axon contract for body cameras, vehicle cameras and Tasers, and full patrol deployment within a year.
At a glance
- The vote
- 20 June 2023, unanimous: the Clark County Council authorized a five-year contract with Axon for body-worn cameras, vehicle cameras, and updated Taser products (the agency's own program page) [1]
- The money
- "the 2022 Clark County voter-approved public safety sales tax" (the annual report) [2]
- Deployment
- Phased from early fall 2023; all patrol and specialty units equipped by January 2024, vehicle cameras in permanently assigned patrol vehicles by spring 2024 [1]
- Critical-incident releases
- The office releases BWC video after deadly use-of-force incidents at the Sheriff's discretion, separate from the independent investigations; five releases listed for 2024-2025 [1]
- State law
- RCW 10.109 requires the policy; RCW 42.56.240(14), which the program page itself cites, governs disclosure with a 60-day retention floor [3]
How it happened
- Decision
The unanimous vote
The council authorizes the five-year Axon contract covering body-worn cameras, vehicle cameras, and Tasers, funded by the 2022 voter-approved public safety sales tax. [1]
- Context
Full patrol deployment
All patrol and specialty units are equipped; vehicle cameras follow through spring 2024. [1]
Bought in the open
Most camera programs on this site trace to a consent calendar or a forfeiture fund. Clark County’s traces to an election: the 2022 voter-approved public safety sales tax funded it, and the council’s authorization on 20 June 2023 was unanimous and named everything in the package, body-worn cameras, vehicle cameras, Tasers, five years, Axon. The agency’s own program page carries the vote, the phased rollout, and the disclosure framework, citing the statute that governs footage requests.
The page also documents a practice worth noting plainly: after a deadly use-of-force incident, the office releases body camera video at the Sheriff’s discretion, separate from the independent investigation, and lists each release. Discretionary release is not neutral, the choosing is the Sheriff’s, but a listed practice with published videos is more record than most agencies volunteer.
What we do not know
- The Axon contract's schedules and cost, and the retention settings beyond the 60-day floor.
- The dash and back-seat vehicle cameras' triggering and review rules, which the program page describes less fully than the body cameras'.
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 Clark County.
What we have documented in Clark 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. Clark County Sheriff's Office, Body-Worn Camera (BWC) Program page · Primary document · · accessed
- 2. Clark County Sheriff's Office 2023 Annual Report · Primary document · accessed
- 3.
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