ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich. — The investigation is underway after a deadly shooting by an Allegan County deputy. The deputy did not have a body cam or dash camera in his vehicle.
Monday, FOX 17 contacted every sheriff's department in the lower peninsula with one quesion: are officers equipped with body cameras or dash cameras? Overwhelmingly they are.
From Ionia County to Gratiot County, to Presque Isle County, sheriff's deputies are recording with both body-worn cameras and dash cameras.
Wayne County Sheriff's deputies have dash cameras, but not body cameras. The same goes for Lake County, one of the poorest counties in Michigan. Lake County has a grant application in to get body cameras too, but all of their deputies have cameras in their vehicles and wear microphones.
Rural counties such as Iosco or Sanilac County don't record at all. However, those entire county's populations are roughly the size of small cities throughout Michigan.
Large counties that don't equip deputies with body cameras or dash cameras include two in West Michigan.
Ottawa County Sheriff's deputies aren't equipped with recording devices. However, they got the money to start buying body cameras in May of 2021. Still, the process to roll them out is a slow one.
Allegan County deputies also aren't recorded at all. However, in January of 2022, they were granted the money to begin purchasing body cameras. Most deputies still don't have cameras.
“Dashcam video is not mandated by law. But the fact of the matter is, it makes it easier to understand what in fact happened in an encounter,” Kalamazoo-based Attorney Randall Levine said.
The Allegan County deputy who shot and killed 22-year-old Joseph Nagle on Thursday, June 16, was not equipped with any type of camera.
The deputy has since been placed on administrative leave and sustained minor injuries.
But the chances of an officer-involved shooting at the county level not being recorded isn't entirely uncommon.
Based on questions FOX 17 asked and publicly available information, Ottawa, Allegan, and Branch counties all don't record deputies at all. All three have plans to get officers body cameras.
Other large sheriff's departments that don't have body cameras or dash cameras include Shiawassee County and Genesee County. Genesee County has plans to roll body cameras and dash cameras out after being granted funding in 2021. Nearby Midland County deputies already have equipped deputies with both body cameras and dash cameras.
Attorneys say, though not required, recordings are becoming part of public expectation.
“It serves the public. To know what actually occurred during that encounter, and there’s no better way to preserve it than a camera that captures it,” Levine said.
