CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — A change is coming to the Citrus County Sheriff's Office this summer.
Sheriff David Vincent said on Monday that starting June 30, all Patrol Division personnel will wear body cameras during their daily interactions. The agency said it had signed a contract with Axon, a law enforcement technology company, for the equipment.
"I told the public during my campaign, it's amazing to me that in 2024 we were still without any kind of video footage of any interactions that we have between the public and our officers," said Sheriff Vincent.
Sheriff Vicent took office in January of 2025.
"The public wants that transparency. I want to provide that transparency for our community, but it also, I've always said it's going to benefit us way more than it ever hurts us in this profession," said Sheriff Vincent.
Sheriff Vincent said about 115 deputies within the patrol division will wear the cameras.
"As we can afford it in the future, we'll phase in whether detectives need that, school resource officers, bailiffs, all of those ancillary positions that we have out there just as we can afford it," he added.
Sheriff Vincent said the cameras should arrive in April, and training begins in May. He also added the cameras have an artificial intelligence component. He said AI will help deputies write reports.
"Deputies spend a lot of time writing reports. It takes away from doing police work, so this new technology will literally write a report in several minutes for the deputy, that will be able to prove it to make sure it's accurate, and it's basically based on the conversation the deputy had with the person. The AI translates that, puts it in a report in about 3 minutes, and they can review it and be on their next call," said Sheriff Vincent.
Sheriff Vincent said the cameras cost $385,000 a year. He hopes the cameras will be active by June 30 or sooner.
"When we look at technology and the use of it in our profession, body cameras is long overdue in Citrus County," he said.
Other law enforcement agencies currently using body cameras include the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, and Pasco County Sheriff's Office.
"I'm not a drag on the system."
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