The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors approved funds to allow the Oktibbeha County Sheriff's Office to purchase new security cameras and a camera system to be installed in the Oktibbeha County Jail at their meeting on Monday.
Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chadd Garnett said the jail always has incidents occur within its walls, and with the camera system being outdated, they began to regularly lose the functionality of some cameras.
He said when a camera would go out, the process of installing a new one is a long process and the new system would help speed up the process.
"If you have a camera there, you have it there for a reason," Garnett said. "It was just the age of the system that we just came to the conclusion it was time to upgrade."
The new system would almost double their cameras in the jail from about 26 cameras to 72. Also, the other system was maxed out for number of cameras it could hold.
This new system will also hold tape for up to three months, while the current system could only hold tape for about 23 days.
"You never have enough man power if there is a major incident in the jail," Garnett said. "Hopefully, the cameras would be able to give us an early enough warning that we could handle it before it got out of hand."
Garnett said
Garnett said because the inmates have a lot of time on their hands, they know where the blind spots are, so having additional cameras will completely eliminate those blind spots.
"That makes the people who are in jail safe," Garnett said. "Our job is to not only put them in jail, it's also to protect them while they're in jail."
The three quotes Garnett received were $74,000 from Synergetics DCS Inc., $40,600 from Dynamic Fire Protection LLC, and Security Solutions at $23,853.17.
The board approved the lowest quote from Security Systems. The same equipment was provided by each quote.
President of the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors Orlando Trainer said the purpose of approving the funds boils down to public safety for the jail. He
said the additional cameras are going to make it safer for the staff and inmates.
"It could possibly save a life and so therefore I think it's a great investment and we're hoping they get installed in a reasonable time," Trainer said.
OTHER BUSINESS
• The board approved a franchise agreement with CSpire and Telepak to allow wireless fiber for better internet access in the county.
• The board received three bids for waste management services and moved to take the proposals under advisement until their next board meeting.