68°F
weather icon Clear
Las Vegas, NV
2017 Legislature

Police body cameras bill closer to becoming law in Nevada

By Sandra Chereb Review-Journal Capital Bureau
April 17, 2017 - 5:31 pm
 
Las Vegas police Sgt. Peter Ferranti wears a body camera during a media presentation at the Mojave Training Center in Las Vegas. (Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Senate approved a bill Monday expanding the use of police body cameras statewide and raising the allowable surcharge on telecommunication systems counties can impose to support it.

Senate Bill 176, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford and others, requires police agencies statewide to equip officers with portable recording devices while on duty. It expands a law passed in 2015 that imposed the requirement on the Nevada Highway Patrol.

Clark County already equips officers with cameras.

The bill also authorizes smaller counties to increase the maximum allowable monthly surcharge on telecommunications systems from 25 cents to a maximum of $1.

The fee is currently used to finance emergency 911 systems. The bill further authorizes those fees to be used for body cameras and police dash cams.

The bill now goes to the Assembly.

Contact Sandra Chereb at schereb@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3821. Follow @SandraChereb on Twitter.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
Lawsuit challenges Nevada’s new diabetes drug disclosure law
By Sean Whaley / RJ

Two pharmaceutical groups have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of a bill passed by the 2017 Nevada Legislature requiring disclosure of the pricing of diabetes drugs.

Nevada Legislature approves final payment for ESA software
By Sean Whaley / RJ

The final action on Nevada’s controversial private school choice program came Thursday when the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee approved $105,000 to pay off the remaining costs incurred by a vendor who was working on the development of software to implement the program.

 
Recall targets a third Nevada senator
By Colton Lochhead / RJ

A third recall petition against a female Nevada state senator was filed Wednesday.

Federal government approves Nevada’s education plan
By Meghin Delaney / RJ

Nevada is among four states to get U.S. Education Department approval of its plan as required under a new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA.