First, we here in Hamilton County learned that all dash camera footage for 130 Hamilton County patrol deputies taken between Oct. 25, 2018, and Jan. 23, 2020, was lost after a software failure on Jan. 13.
Then we learned from Sheriff Jim Hammond that the footage could not be recovered, as only one nearly 13-year-old server was used to store the videos.
This week we listened as Hammond asked the Hamilton County Commission for a $4.5 million technology agreement to safeguard data after that “catastrophic” loss.
Why is it catastrophic? Because it is evidence that now is gone – except for some downloaded to court officials who already had requested it for a few cases. Defense lawyers and the Hamilton County District attorney have said the loss potentially jeopardizes criminal and civil cases. In the wake of that loss, Hammond and other members of the sheriff’s department have come to the commission – that’s to us, the taxpayers – to pitch suggestions for how to improve data storage. Improve it now that the chickens have flown the coop.
“We’ve known that we had to migrate toward something better in technology, which is always an evolving concept,” Hammond said Wednesday.