No more delays, Sheriff Jones. It’s time for Sacramento deputies to wear body cameras

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones has dragged his feet on the adoption of body-worn cameras for his department, resisting pressure to join the 21st century by making sure his deputies’ actions are captured on camera. He has made it clear that he doesn’t want any outside agitators telling him how to run things.

A deadly January incident in which Sacramento deputies shot and killed a Carmichael man underscores how Jones’ stubborn resistance has undermined the credibility of the entire department.

On Jan. 15, gang unit investigators confronted two brothers as they sat in a car outside of a Carmichael apartment complex. Gunfire broke out, killing 25-year-old Kershawn Geyger and wounding a veteran sheriff’s detective. Geyger’s brother, JW Geiger, was taken into custody. The officers, who were looking for Geyger in connection with an earlier shooting, said both brothers were armed.

Yet the public still has no clear idea of why the gunfire erupted. That’s because Jones keeps stalling the deployment of body-worn cameras in the sheriff’s department. In lieu of actual footage of the incident, Jones rolled out a video reenactment of the incident based on deputy testimony.

“The reenactment uses illustrated graphics to visually depict the Sheriff’s Office’s account of the shooting based on information gathered so far in their internal investigation,” The Bee’s Rosalio Ahumada and Marcus D. Smith reported.

Unsurprisingly, Geyger’s family doesn’t trust the deputies’ version of the story. In the absence of video footage, the skeptical family in mourning will be left without closure. The lack of video evidence further justifies the distrust of law enforcement felt by many in the Black community.

Had Jones prioritized cameras — the Sacramento Police Department has worn them nearly four years now — we would have a clearer idea of how and why Geyger died. His deputies would also have a vital tool to shield them from unfounded allegations of misconduct and provide additional evidence to convict criminals.

Instead, the largest law enforcement agency in Northern California has slow-walked the cameras, leaving the public in the dark about deadly incidents like the one that killed Geyger.

Jones claims he wants body-worn cameras on Sacramento deputies, but he often seems to view cameras merely as a political issue. He has used the issue as leverage in multiple rounds of budget negotiations with Sacramento County officials and the Board of Supervisors, who have continued feeding his bloated $316.9 million budget.

The sheriff’s department first requested body cameras during budget deliberations in 2018, but after most funding had been decided. Jones didn’t identify the program as a priority, allowing finance staff to bypass the proposal and spend those dollars on rising payroll costs, according to a county spokesperson.

The following year, Sacramento County again had to spend revenues on sheriff-related litigation after settling a $100 million lawsuit over inhumane conditions and treatment of inmates at the jail. It also spent nearly $22 million on upgrades to the jail. Body cameras fell by the wayside again.

Supervisors finally approved $2.1 million to purchase cameras last fall as part of a $38.2 million increase of the sheriff’s budget, which accounts for more than one-third of the county’s general fund. Since then, layers of bureaucracy have delayed the training and outfitting of all 1,500 personnel, including probation officers.

Some specialty units will have body cameras by Feb. 15, said Sgt. Rodney Grassman. The rest of the agency’s sworn officers are expected to have them by June. However, Grassman said any hitch in training or implementation could cause further delays.

Jones must stop delaying the inevitable and get the job done. Body cameras are not a panacea to police accountability, but they greatly increase transparency and accountability for both law enforcement and the public. Sheriff Jones, county officials and police union leaders must wake up to the urgent need for this overdue shift. Outfitting deputies in body-worn cameras must be a top law enforcement priority for Sacramento County.

Additional delays will only further erode community trust in the sheriff’s department.