RAMSEY COUNTY, Minn. — This is the first weekend patrol deputies in Ramsey County are heading out on duty with body cameras.
They are now the third largest department in Minnesota to have body cameras, after their patrol deputies began using them Friday.
During a news conference Friday, Sheriff Bob Fletcher said he hopes the cameras help deputies build trust with the community.
"It's no secret that there are those in our community that aren't sure that they can trust law enforcement. Well, this helps make that easier," he said.
The cameras, which cost about $1.3 million, are first being given to deputies in the patrol division.
Fletcher says next month deputies in the courts division will also get body cameras.
And, later this year, he says Ramsey County hopes to break ground in Minnesota by giving body cameras to correctional officers in their jail.
The move to equip correctional officers with body cameras comes after an incident in 2016, in which a video captured a Ramsey County correctional officer kneeing and punching a man in custody.
The Sheriff says the plan for correctional officer body cameras will be given to the county board for review next week.