Digital Intrusion Of Privacy

He said of the deputies who wear them, "Wherever he goes, whether it's a traffic stop or if he's on a routine complaint at a residence, whatever he observes, we can observe. Everything is recorded as it happens."

He said, so far, they've been useful.

He said, "He can go right up to the vehicle and everything that he sees, what's said, is right there on camera. Everything is visible."

LeClaire said the department is just testing these $1,000 cameras. They're not very noticeable unless you're looking for them, and they can be used in evidence collection, when deputies stop cars or respond to calls.

LeClaire said, "It's been a month and a half now that we've been trying these out, and it's been very useful already."

Action DVR Consultant Jeff Murphy said, "The battery has an eight-hour lifespan so it would last an entire shift, and also it's a digital video recorder that the data is collected on. It has a 20 gigabyte hard drive so that's a lot of memory."

That isn't the only new equipment the department is using. LeClaire said they were able to buy a new iris-scanning device with federal grant money.

"It's a very useful tool and has proven useful around the nation in identification of children, and also it's been used for identification of elderly people."

Schools in the area are already asking for him to come in with the iris-scanning camera. Once a child's iris is scanned, the picture is stored in a national database in Arizona and used if kids are missing or abducted. All of this new technology is being used in an effort to keep deputies and the community safer.

LeClaire said, "We can go to schools and start this program soon. I'm also going to offer it in the future to surrounding police agencies in the region so they can use it."