You’re welcome by the way. H

Nothing stops a Sheriff from having deputy gardeners, like body cams. Nothing stops the Sheriff’s girlfriends from mayhem like body cams. MCSO was THE ONLY PLACE IN THE STATE OF TEXAS WITHOUT BODY CAMS. Notice how no one calls Senator Parker’s office to find out if this is true, because it is……..

Can’t wait to see the future body cam footage of Char hanging crime scene tape to keep the Sheriff’s daughters off the property and away from “Daddy” who can’t move without her. Can’t wait to hear Char yell, “RUN, hide in the woods”, at the next gardener, oh, guess that’s over. Now we have body cams and “Ives”, who has gone over to the dark side in hopes of annointng from ole Par, says they will have to maintain them etc. AF.TER getting a 90K Grant. Aww shucks.

Yep, McNamara and Ives piss and moan a bit about it but they fool no one.

Going to be really difficult for the next young group of men to do the “sheriff’s bidding” blindly after signing that “Loyalty Oath” in their contract and being further groomed like an altar boy by a priest with Par.

So, let’s call BULLSHIT once again on our 1954 Sheriff and his suck ups. It’s 2024, boys, body cam are “in”, are you crazy?

Time for everyone to grow the hell up.

H

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McLennan County patrol deputies getting body cameras in 1st for sheriff’s office

Body cameras, an armored vehicle and progressive pay raises appear on the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office wish list for the new budget year.

For the first time, county deputies on patrol will wear body cameras capturing their interaction with the public. A $90,000 state grant will cover the lion’s share to outfit 43 deputies with the gear, said David Ives, captain of administration for the office. He said this is “our first adventure into body cameras.”

Ives said the 43 cameras represent the “first deployment,” and that the office hopes future budget allocations will place them on members of the criminal investigation division, the SWAT team and jailers.

“Here’s the problem,” Ives said. “There is no such thing as ‘buying’ body cameras. We will pay service fees, access fees, cloud fees and everything else in perpetuity. There will be an annual cost. We have to take the first bite of the apple as we can take it, making sure we have the infrastructure, network bandwidth and storage capabilities to make it work, which is why we’re working closely with the IT department to step through this with us.”

Ives said the $90,000 grant will cover about 85% of the first 43 body cameras, with the county expected to provide the balance.

Sheriff Parnell McNamara told commissioners in January the department has dashboard cameras on patrol vehicles, and deputies can record audio.

“This will add the video component for our patrol deputies,” McNamara said.

The Waco Police Department issued body-worn cameras to officers in 2018. Now officers and detectives in the Waco, Hewitt, Bellmead, Woodway, Lorena and Robinson police departments must wear cameras.

The sheriff’s office pursued and received a $500,000 grant to buy an armored vehicle to use during cases involving active shooters, barricaded suspects, officer rescues, serving warrants that may involve high-risk arrests, and situations that involving flammables. Ives said the county ordered a customized model costing $398,000 from Lenco Armored Vehicles in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

“This one specifically is outfitted with provisions to make emergency medical responses,” Ives said. “We’re in the procurement phase. This is not something we can go down to the store and pick up. We’re sending two drivers to Lenco to engage in training.”

The department plans to have the vehicle in Waco by Sept. 15.

The Lenco website says its BearCat models “can withstand the impact of high-caliber assault rifles, mortar frag grenades, IEDs — and even storm debris propelled by 100 mph winds. It is capable of negotiating rugged terrain and flooded streets with ease, and can turn on a dime to get out of tight situations.”

As always, law enforcement and jail operations dominate proposed spending in the preliminary budget county commissioners approved Wednesday. The proposed $79 million general fund budget includes $14.9 million for sheriff’s office operations, $19.2 million for McLennan County Jail and $12.2 million for the Jack Harwell Detention Center. Those numbers reflect a budgeted increase of $3 million across the board, with proposed step pay increases accounting for $1.3 million.

The county for more than 10 years has encountered problems keeping the jails fully staffed. Ives said it now has 19 vacancies. He said the sheriff’s office has proposed a new pay schedule that gives priority to entry-level employees, affording them a “road map for salaries,” that may improve odds of keeping them.

“We’re saying this is what you can expect from year one to year 10, not counting COLA,” Ives said, referencing cost-of-living adjustments. “The road map is there if you decided to make this a career.”

He said he could not speak for commissioners, but suggested they have been receptive to the plan. Commissioners on Wednesday approved a preliminary budget, but may tweak details until a final vote Aug. 27.

Law does not allow increases to the approved tax rate of 31.98 cents per $100 valuation, which is about 1-cent less than the current rate but about half-a-penny more than a no-new-revenue rate of 31.51 cents.

The preliminary budget suggests a modest increase in starting pay for jailers, from $48,941 to $49,100. But each year thereafter, jailers would automatically receive a 2.95% pay increase. A 10-year jailer would be making $63,785 under that plan, Ives said. That range does not include any cost-of-living raises commissioners may approve in the coming years.

Deputies, too, would benefit from this plan, Ives said. Their base pay would increase from $58,773 to $59,100, and they would receive 3.05% annual pay jumps, putting an 11-year deputy on pace to make $79,811.

Chief Deputy Cody Blossman said “there has been a lot of teamwork behind the scenes” in preparing the plan for commissioners’ consideration.

“Our relationship with county commissioners couldn’t be better, and they are very understanding,” said Blossman, who lauded the office of Auditor Frances Bartlett and the human resources department for their assistance.

For county employees not employed as law enforcement or corrections staffers, the proposed budget includes a 3.11% cost-of-living adjustment. This accounted for a $1.6 million proposed budget increase, Bartlett said by email.

“The county introduced a new salary structure for employees who are not covered by a step pay plan,” Bartlett wrote. “Following the implementation of this new structure, some positions were found to be below the minimum salary levels specified. Consequently, salaries for these positions were adjusted to meet the new minimums.”

This adjustment added $200,000 to the proposed budget.