Acquisition of Body-Worn and In-Car Cameras

The Ford County Sheriff’s Office plans to purchase the WatchGuard Video / Motorola Solutions M-500 / V-300 Bundle. The Bundle consists of (22) M-500 in-car video systems, including a 1TB DVR, five-inch touch display, front camera with 4k sensor, and infrared cabin camera. (22) V-300 Body Worn Cameras. Detachable battery. 128GB of storage space and Radio integration. TheV300 continuous-operation body-worn camera remains operational beyond a 12-hr shift. Twenty-two additional detachable and rechargeable batteries for camera sharing in the Detention Division will also be purchased. The bundle will have a Wi-Fi docking base mounted in the vehicle allowing the body-worn camera to offload its contents through the vehicle’s network system. The Bundles include a cloud-based evidence management system with unlimited device storage and cloud sharing.  The (22) M-500 / V-300 Bundle will be utilized in the Patrol Division at the Ford County Sheriff’s Office. The Ford County Sheriff’s Office has equipped each patrol vehicle with a modem for immediate in-the-field offloading to the secure cloud.

Law enforcement in the State of Kansas realizes the value of video recordings to aid prosecution with video recordings from either body-worn or in car camera systems. Videos collected on the scene allow Judges hearing a case a glimpse at the location of the real-time recording of the incident under review in courtroom proceedings. The Motorola\WatchGuard camera system will help reduce claims and challenges to Law Enforcement Officers regarding the evidence presented in court. The camera system recorded media can assist the courts with timely pleas, reducing Law Enforcement Officers' time in court.  The camera recording will allow the courts to see victims of a crime as the crime is investigated during a call for service. If a victim or witness is reluctant to testify in court, the video evidence recorded can be viewed in court to assist with court proceedings.

The Ford County Sheriff’s Office currently uses the Motorola Si-500 Body Worn Camera system and the Command Central Video cloud for media storage. In July 2019, Motorola Solutions and Watchguard Video merged. The acquisition expands Motorola Solutions’ mission-critical, adding to its video security solutions platform.  Due to the merger, Motorola has discontinued the current Si-500 Body-Worn-Camera system currently utilized.  

Once awarded, the Byrne Discretionary Community Project Grant / Byrne Discretionary Grant Program the Ford County Sheriff’s Office will upgrade to the WatchGuard Video / Motorola Solutions M-500 / V-300 Bundle, enhancing officer safety, agency transparency, and Community trust.