By Dylan Goetz
mlive.com
FLINT, Mich. — The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office has banned body cameras in the county jail after a video unintentionally captured private medical information of an inmate.
A memo was issued in March outlining the new policy, which arose to restrict outside law enforcement agencies from entering the jail while wearing body cameras.
In September 2025, an outside law enforcement agency transported an arrested individual to the Genesee County Jail, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.
While the inmate was being processed, the arresting officer’s body camera was recording.
At the same time, another officer was lodging a separate inmate. Medical staff at the jail were conducting a medical intake for the second inmate.
The body camera recording captured the private medical assessment of the second inmate, who was not arrested by the body-camera wearing officer.
As a part of a public records request, the body camera footage was released and included private inmate medical information, according to the statement.
“This was done to protect the privacy rights of inmates in our custody,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “This is a standard practiced by the Michigan Department of Corrections, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and several other agencies.”
The jail operates its own camera system that records in all areas accessible to inmates.
Sheriff Chris Swanson said the memo was independent of a death of a female inmate at the jail that was reported on March 26.
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