Morrow County wants to upgrade MCSO camera system
By Griffin Beach on Monday, May 12th, 2025 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
MORROW COUNTY – The Morrow County Board of Commissioners approved a sole-source determination for Utility Associates, Inc. of Decatur, Georgia to provide a body and vehicle camera system for the Morrow County Sheriff’s Department (MCSD).
The sole-source determination means a public notice is posted on the county’s website, and there would then be a seven-day protest period. At the end of that period if there has been no protest then a decision would be brought back to the commissioners to execute a contract with the company. If there are protests, then those would be brought back to the commission for a review.
MCSD previously used Axon for the camera systems, but that contract ends on June 30. Undersheriff Brian Snyder, who represented MCSO for the presentation, says this process began when Sheriff John Bowles attended a conference where Utility Associates, Inc. was pitching its services. After some initial conversations Snyder said things began rolling along from there.
“We did get another bid from our current contract (Axon) and it was significantly higher with half of the equipment.” said Snyder.
Snyder outlined the advantages that Utility Associates offered over the current supplier, including in-car cameras, which are currently items that MCSO doesn’t have.
“With Utility Inc. we’re able to get body cameras for all the officers, and in-car cameras for all but the administration for less then what we’re currently paying.” said Snyder. “It’s a large contract. It’s a five-year contract broke(n) down into five payments, however it’s still significantly less than what we are currently paying. We’re getting twice as much equipment with Utility Inc. They’re also to come out and do the initial install in every single one of our vehicles, along with the training.”
Snyder said the capability of Utility Associates’ equipment “supersedes” what MCSO currently has.
“They’re not even in the same ballpark,” Snyder said. “Between the evidence collection, between the reporting portion of it, along with the GPS tracking which is a huge resource that we do not currently have.”
Snyder also discussed the new download capabilities Utility Associate’s equipment would offer MCSO. He said currently deputies must plug their cameras into a docking station and hope that an emergency call doesn’t come in while they’re waiting for them to download. He said that can take hours depending on the amount of video. Utility Associates, Inc.’s equipment automatically downloads the video through Wi-Fi. If the deputy is in an area where there is no Wi-Fi, it stores the footage and then automatically downloads it once Wi-Fi is available.
The total contract amount is $280,000. It would begin on July 1 and run through July 1, 2030.
