Ind. Sheriff's Office Wants Input from Public about Body Cameras
What to know
• Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, the region’s last major agency without body cameras, is evaluating vendors and AI-enabled features as it prepares to launch a program by mid-2026.
• Indiana University Southeast is conducting a community survey at no cost to the department to gauge public views on body-worn cameras and related AI tools for report generation.
• Sheriff Steve Bush said funding is already allocated for body cameras next year, and survey results will inform vendor selection and support future grant applications.
FLOYD COUNTY, IN — Floyd County residents have been asked to participate in an Indiana University Southeast survey regarding body cameras.
Between Clark and Floyd counties, the Floyd County Sheriff’s Department is the only major law enforcement agency with no body camera program.
Floyd County Sheriff Steve Bush said while the department is getting body cameras, they have been testing and vetting different camera systems.
Bush said they continue to look at the different camera company options including Axon, Motorola and a third one.
“We are really vetting those processes with our police officers and correctional officers, and looking at what’s the best product and approach we wanted to take,” Bush said.
They’re also looking at different options they could pay for along with the cameras including AI tools that help generate police reports.
The survey itself will specifically ask about these AI capabilities to gauge the response from the community.
He said that the Floyd County Council does have money set aside for next year for these cameras.
Now, however, Bush said they have partnered with IUS to receive more community feedback. He said they have also offered to help write a grant for next year’s application cycle to pay for the camera costs.
Bush said this connection came about because he has spoken at several university criminal justice classes.
IUS criminal justice assistant professor David Lapsey Jr. said the survey is part of a larger project with the sheriff’s department to finally institute body cameras.
The survey costs nothing for the sheriff’s department. Bush said a body camera program would be instituted at least within the first half of 2026.
Lapsey said a second reminder about the survey will come out in about a week and a half, and then end sometime after that. It can be found at tinyurl.com/4bj6cdy9.
He said he will take these survey results and write them up in a report for the sheriff’s office.
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