The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office is planning to buy body-worn cameras for its officers, similar to the cameras used by the Marshall Police Department, shown here.

MARSHALL — The tools of law enforcement are changing, with equipment like body-worn cameras getting more common. Marshall Police officers are using body cameras, and now the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office plans to do the same.

“I think it will be a very valuable tool,” said Lyon County Sheriff Eric Wallen.

The Sheriff’s Office is planning to purchase a total of 18 body cameras for its officers, similar to the cameras currently worn by members of the Marshall Police Department, Wallen said. The Sheriff’s Office has also drafted a formal policy on how the cameras will be used, and they are seeking public comment on the draft through Nov. 2.

“It’s been a topic for a couple years, as they started to come onto the market,” Wallen said. Body-worn cameras would be both useful for law enforcement, and help provide “the kind of transparency and accountability the public expects,” he said.

The footage recorded by body cameras can help law enforcement gather more evidence, and can also provide a record of what happened in interactions between officers and the public, Wallen said.

The Marshall Police Department is already using body-worn cameras, after getting approval from the city council about a year ago. The MPD has a total of 22 body cameras, one for each officer.

“It’s been a true benefit for our department,” said Marshall Public Safety Director Jim Marshall.

“It’s been working very well so far,” MPD Capt. Jeff Wenker said of implementing the body cameras. He said the body camera recordings help provide an additional resource to back up police reports. Video footage from the cameras is filed on a computerized system that allows the MPD to search for video from specific incidents, or that was recorded by a particular officer.

“We can make sure we have a whole picture of what’s happening,” in police incidents, Wenker said. The video evidence can also help cut down on court time, he said.

In some police interactions, people seem to act less aggressively when they see the camera and know they’re being recorded, Wenker said. “It does seem to change their attitude and demeanor,” he said. “We recommend to officers that they remind people they’re being recorded.”

Wenker said there were a few things for officers to learn about using the body cameras, like getting familiar with the system and adjusting the angle of the camera to make sure it’s providing a clear view of what’s happening. However, he said the body cameras are simple to use, and it helps that they use the same system as the dashboard cameras in Marshall squad cars.

Jim Marshall said initially he was concerned the MPD would be overwhelmed with requests for footage from attorneys and members of the public. However, that hasn’t happened, he said.

Wallen said the body cameras the Sheriff’s Office is looking at are the same as the ones currently used by Marshall Police, and they are compatible with the dashboard cameras being used in county and city squad cars. The body and dashboard cameras can be synchronized, to provide footage of traffic stops and other law enforcement incidents from more than one angle.

“We do need to upgrade servers for storage capacity,” but the cameras can also share the same video storage servers as the one being used by the MPD, Wallen said.

Purchasing the cameras and related video storage would have a cost of around $40,000, Wallen said. The plan is to use budgeted equipment funds and proceeds from forfeitures for the purchase, he said.

The body camera policy being proposed by the Sheriff’s Office outlines situations where cameras will be used, and how footage will be stored and used. The recordings made by body cameras will be kept for at least 180 days. People who are in a recording can make a written request that the Sheriff’s Office keep the video on file for a longer period of time.

With some exceptions, “This is not video footage that will really be available to every member of the public,” due to state data privacy laws, Wallen said. A person in a recording can request a copy of it, if it’s not part of an active investigation. But data considered private, like license plates or faces of other members of the public in the video, would have to be be blurred out.

Under state law, the Sheriff’s Office needs to allow time for members of the public to comment on a proposed body camera policy. Wallen said the Sheriff’s Office posted links to the policy draft on its Facebook page and on the county website, but so far they haven’t received many comments.

Comments on the proposed body camera policy can be sent to the Sheriff’s Office by mail or email until 4 p.m. on Nov. 2. After that, Wallen said he plans to take the policy to the Lyon County Board for discussion and approval.

“The intent is to present it at the Nov. 3 board meeting and seek their approval,” Wallen said.

The public can read the proposed camera policy online at the Sheriff’s Office website, www.lyonco.org/departments/sheriff. Comments can be mailed to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office, or be submitted by email to ericwallen@co.lyon.mn.us. Wallen said members of the public are welcome to attend the County Board meeting and comment. If they’re unable to attend, they can submit a written comment to Wallen that can be presented at the meeting.