Onondaga County will begin immediately acquiring body cameras for the county Sheriff's Department after the sheriff pressed for funding during a news conference on Friday.

County Executive Ryan McMahon said Friday that the county will work on coming up with how much the program will cost and getting them sooner than previously anticipated.

Law enforcement’s body-worn camera footage has been used in a handful of high-profile cases recently. For example, body camera footage played a crucial role in the conviction of Derick Chauvin earlier this week in the killing of George Floyd.

But they don't come without a pricetag.

The New York State Police is in the process of rolling out body worn cameras that cost more than $2,500 per trooper every year. The 3,000 cameras, secure cloud video storage, software and technical support cost $7.6 million per year, according to the state. Syracuse Police finished equipping every uniformed officer with body worn cameras earlier this year. The department has 220 cameras that cost $1,907 a year, according to Sgt. Matt Malinowski, a department spokesperson.

In the last few years, many similarly sized sheriff's departments across the state have added body cameras, including Albany, Erie and Monroe counties. 

So why hadn't the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office done the same up until now?

Sheriff Gene Conway said ultimately it came down to cost.

“I know money doesn’t grow on trees," said Conway. "And I know that hot button items get people’s attention and the first thing we want to do is, 'Well let’s solve it so we can move on.' That’s not my world. I’m only concerned with my role as sheriff and trying to keep our community safe."

Over the past few years, Conway has prioritized things like retaining staff, maintaining vehicles and upgrading ballistic vests, he said earlier on Friday. The office is down about 30 deputies because of budget constraints.

Conway said he believes there are other things that could be done, like improving access to mental health counseling.

Previously, McMahon said he would put funding for body-worn cameras in his 2022 budget. Conway said on Friday morning he’d like to see the money now. Otherwise, it would've been at least a year until his deputies started wearing cameras.

McMahon said he sent a letter to Conway in February about coming up with a body camera program. McMahon said he didn't hear from the sheriff and is now going to "strike while the iron is hot" after Conway requested money on Friday morning.