McDonough County Sheriff’s Office to incorporate bodycams by spring as required by 2025 law

MACOMB (WGEM) - By 2025, Illinois police must be equipped with body cameras, per state law.

At the McDonough County Sheriff’s Office, this will be the first time such technology will be used.

Sheriff Nick Petitgout said the office has received the cameras, but now it’s a matter of training and working out any technology kinks.

“We’re going to do cloud-based storage, so we’re going to have the ability to store off site,” Petitgout said. “From here it’s just the coordination of getting everything running and making sure we have the correct bandwidth as far as the internet goes.”

While many law enforcement agencies across Illinois are already equipped with body cameras, Petitgout said it was a process to get theirs.

“Imagine everyone in Illinois is trying to get body cameras at the same time, that made it difficult,” he said.

Another issue he said was the amount of funding it took to get the technology.

The cameras alone, he said, cost roughly $201,000 and paying for storage on a yearly basis will cost $19,000.

He said they didn’t receive any state funding for the cameras and the McDonough County Board had to use money from the general fund to pay for them.

“It’s a lot of money for a small office, I mean there’s half a squad car every year you’re spending on just the storage,” Petitgout said.

In the next three months, Petitgout plans to have launched a pilot program before incorporating the technology on a full-time basis.

The next few months also include developing department policies for the cameras.

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