The Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department will begin storing video from body and vehicle cameras on the cloud after the Board of Supervisors approved a contract with COBAN Technologies Inc. to upgrade the department’s Safe Fleet system.

 

In a work session Thursday, Sheriff Ward Calhoun said the department currently uses physical disks to store its camera footage. While that method is effective, he said the amount of video the department produces means the department uses a lot of disks.

 

“We burn a disk to the tune of 300 to 400 per month of data,” he said.

 

Safe Fleet, which is the brand of cameras LCSD uses, is moving away from local storage for video, Calhoun said, and the county needs to move with it. Newer equipment doesn’t even allow for local storage anymore, he said.

 

Board Attorney Lee Thaggard said moving to cloud storage does have its advantages, especially when preparing for a criminal case. For example, he said, sharing video with the district attorney’s office can be done by emailing a link as opposed to handing over a physical disk.

 

Looking at the options, Calhoun said going with a 5-year contract is the best value for the county, with costs at approximately $65,000 per year. Equipment replacement and other perks are also included in that price along with the cloud storage, he said.

 

Supervisors on Monday also moved forward with a long-awaited project to replace a closed bridge on Sandflat Road. The board voted to award the contract for the work to Creel Development for a total of $368,576.15.

 

Road Manager Rush Mayatt said Creel was the lowest of six bids received. An estimated cost of the project prior to bidding was $480,000, he said.

 

Supervisor Kyle Rutledge said he is glad to see action on getting the bridge replaced.

 

“I’m glad to see Sandflat get fixed,” he said. “It’s been closed a long time.”

 

Supervisor Josh Todd agreed with Rutledge adding he is also glad to see a local company win the project.

 

Creel also came in as the lowest bidder for a project at Bailey Volunteer Fire Department at a cost of $75,000, and supervisors awarded that contract Monday as well. Although the project needed the board’s approval, Todd said the county is not playing a big role in that work. Funding for the fire department was appropriated by the state Legislature, he said, and the county is merely acting as a pass through for the money.