Pima Sheriff Nanos shares lessons learned during body camera rollout

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is taking a look back.

It’s been nearly a year since the department implemented body cameras.

The process hasn’t been without a few bumps and lessons along the way.

Nanos said the cameras are helping his department improve the way it handles calls, including the most serious ones.

“We don’t know what we are going to get into,” Nanos said. “That’s part of the hazards of the job. It’s for this reason that we made the decision to put body cameras on over 750 people in the county.”

This includes deputies, detectives, and even those working at the Pima County Adult Detention Center.

Now, nearly one year later, he said it’s important to him to continue to be as transparent as possible with the public.

“It became such a valuable tool,” he said. “Not just in investigative efforts but to the community. Because, we do want you to see how we respond not just to any incident, but critical incidents as well.”

But it hasn’t come without a few lessons along the way.

Nanos said an incident at the jail made him reconsider having corrections officers be equipped with body cameras as well.

He also said his department gets requests often for the footage and he has made it a priority to get that it out as quickly as possible.

However, that video isn’t always readily available.

“Our turnaround time if you’re asking for your scene or your incident,” he said. “It can be three to six months depending on the size of that incident. But we’ve heard from some other agencies (it can take as long as 18 months).”

These videos can be very long depending on how many deputies responded to the incident, and how long they were there.

“If I’m at an event with my camera on, I might remove myself, but there are 10 other officers there,” he said. “Their camera becomes part of that editing if you will. So yes, you are seeing a movie.”

Nanos said the cameras are rolling even during the most minor calls. He added if someone is in uniform, they have a camera on them.

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