Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame wants his employees to be safe when they are performing their duties, and he’s crunched the numbers, so he knows the price tag for state-of-the-art equipment.
When he learned that local legislators could make a request for body-worn cameras and supporting equipment from something called non-recurring funds, he got in touch with N.C. Rep. Frank Sossamon, (R. Dist. 32) who represents Vance County and most of Granville County.
“I gave him the numbers and the platform (information and) it was granted, thank God,” Brame told WIZS News in advance of a meeting Thursday, where Sossamon presented a check to Brame and county officials for $691,536.
“This will be a big help for us,” Brame said. The funds will be used to outfit sheriff’s staff and detention staff with body-worn cameras and the supporting equipment needed to upload and store video footage. In addition to providing an extra layer of protection for the officer, Brame said the cameras will be useful if a situation were to arise and false claims are lodged against his officers.
In an interview earlier this week, Sossamon said he’s “elated” for Brame, his staff, and the residents of Vance County.
“We have some appropriation chairs that are very, very pro law enforcement,” Sossamon said in an interview this week. “Any time they can support law enforcement, they’re going to do it.”
The equipment, Sossamon predicted, will be a selling point for recruiting, not to mention “a morale booster for the sheriff and for his officers.”
