OTTAWA COUNTY, OH (WTOL) - It is a one-of-its-kind system in the state of of Ohio! The Ottawa County Sheriff's Department is the first county in the state of Ohio to use GoPro technology for body cameras. And the digital management company they are partnered with has donated a drone for the department to use as well.
The sheriff's department has been equipped with GoPro cameras for the last few months.
Attached with a magnetic mount, the cameras offer a wider field of view than other body cameras.
Through a cloud database with Austin-based Intrensic, the videos can be uploaded and viewed throughout the department in minutes, even on smartphones.
"To be able to view that immediately, rather than having to come to the office and get on the server. Or if I'm out of town for some reason or on vacation, I can still view it and be in touch with what actually happened," said Ottawa County Sheriff Steve Levorchick.
Along with being the first agency in Ohio to use Intrensic's software, the department also gave many good suggestions on how the process can be improved for law enforcement use.
"And we were able to push that information back to our development team who gave us the thumbs up and said, 'Absolutely. This isn't just going to work well for Ottawa County, it is going to work well for all of our customers,'" said intrensic CEO Kevin Mullins.
And to thank the sheriff's department for being an early adopter of the technology, Intrensic donated a GoPro Karma Drone that can immediately be integrated into the department's system.
"It can be used for lost boaters, it can be used in a number of applications," said Levorchick. "At fire scenes, we can assist fire departments by flying over and helping them."
