News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Overton County Jail has received approval from the county commission to purchase a new camera system.
Overton County Sheriff John Garrett said the camera system will help monitor the movement and interactions of inmates and correction staff. Garrett said the jail is currently on its second camera system since the jail opened in 2001.
“The hard drives are outdated we can’t get those so when we have something to go down we are down cameras and they are not recording,” Garrett said. “So that kind of defeats the purpose of having a system anyway.”
Garrett said the camera system will be paid for by American Rescue Funds and will cost the county roughly over $100,000. Garrett said the new camera system will cover the jail from a liability standpoint.
“Well it’s definitely going to enhance the safety and security of the jail,” Garrett said. “It will also record incidents and interactions between inmates and correctional staff.”
Garrett said not having a camera system could set the jail up for a potential lawsuit.
“It’s unfortunate that we live in a time where someone can be sued for just about anything,” Garret said. “We may have a complaint filed against a particular employee and the complaint when a lawsuit is filed unfortunately you can say anything in there. Whoever initiates the suit can claim whatever whether it be factual or not so those camera systems really help to tell the truth.”
Garrett said he does not have a timeline of when the camera system will be installed but he hopes to get the camera system installed as soon as possible. Garrett said he has not seen the camera system but imagines the system will be way better than the current system.
