By Anna Burleson
Grand Forks Herald
GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Grand Forks County Correctional Center Administrator Bret Burkholder has purchased a camera for one of his inmate transport vehicles.
He told the Grand Forks County Commission he began looking into the $1,297 camera prior to the injury and subsequent death of Freddie Gray while in police custody in Baltimore that sparked riots but that it became relevant and so he purchased the device.
Burkholder said the camera system will have audio capabilities and record the front of the vehicle, the officers and the inmate. He used money from his equipment budget to pay for it.
“If it works as well as I believe it’s going to work, my plan would be to put it in every one of our vehicles so we never run into a situation like Baltimore had to deal with,” Burkholder said.
The commission also approved purchasing two new vehicle radios to replace broken ones using $7,363 from its general fund.