Treutlen Sheriff’s Office Receives $249,000 Grant

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Treutlen County Sheriff’s Deputies will receive new body cameras, in-car cameras, and an upgraded interview room, as the Sheriff’s Office has received a $249,000 grant from U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff.

This grant comes as the Senator brought Republicans and Democrats together to fund new equip- continued from page

ment, as the bipartisan government funding legislation was signed on January 23.

“Body cameras provide the transparency and accountability we require from our public safety officials in Georgia,” Ossoff commented. “That’s why I brought Republicans and Democrats together to strengthen law enforcement transparency in Treutlen County.”

Sheriff Tommy Corbin said that this funding will not only benefit the Treutlen County Sheriff’s Office, but also Soperton Police Officers, as many will receive the cameras purchased with the grant. “We are a small area, so it just made sense for us [the Treutlen County Sheriff’s Office and Soperton Police Department] to go in jointly on this,” he remarked.

Corbin said that while officers already had body cameras – which will now be updated through the grant – deputies will now have cars outfitted with incar cameras, which help to capture all events outside the vehicle. “We have not had in-car cameras. In the past, we could purchase them for around $5,000 and install them ourselves; now, everything is so expensive and complicated with downloads, we could not have done this without the grant,” he stated. “I believe it will be good to record high speed chases and other things of that nature to let people see what’s going on in the community.”

The Sheriff also remarked that the funding will help to revamp the Office’s interview room, which is currently very small and without any audio or video recording. “We have planned to move our interview room into one of our offices, and it will have audio and video recording. Basically, all our deputies will have to do is walk in and hit a button, and it will be on record,” Sheriff Corbin said. “Then, it makes things easier in court because we are able to play back exactly what individuals said during these interviews.”

He emphasized his gratitude for the grant. “Thank you to Senator Ossoff and his staff for their hard work in getting this funding for us,” he summarized.

Sheriff Corbin stated that the government has approved the money but not dispersed it. Once it is dispersed, the purchases of this equipment can be made.