Body cams are paying off in Northern Nevada for law enforcement

RENO, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) — The Nevada State Legislature required all law enforcement who interact directly with the public to wear body cams last summer.

Officers in Washoe County have been using body cams for the last seven months. That includes Reno and Sparks Police and the Sheriff's office.

The department says the cameras have been very helpful in training and holding their officers and the public accountable.

Lieutenant Corey Solferino, Administrative Bureau with the Washoe County Sheriff's Office says, “I think they’ve been extremely successful in the sense that it allows our officers to go back and use it as a training tool. It allows our supervisors to effectively supervise and it allows the public to see what happened when there’s two sides of a story and video evidence is there”

He says they have only had minor incidents where an individual complained that an officer made a mistake during an arrest, but they had the body cam footage to prove they did not.

They currently have 120 deputies that wear the cameras on a daily basis.