SNOW HILL – County officials approved plans for expanding staffing at the Worcester County State’s Attorney’s Office to prepare for the implementation of body cameras by local law enforcement.
The Worcester County Commissioners this week voted 4-0, with three abstaining, to approve State’s Attorney Kris Heiser’s plan to hire six new attorneys and six legal assistants. She said the staff would be needed to handle the influx of video as police began to all use body cameras.
“It’s very important that I can begin sooner rather than later because it’s going to take me a while to be prepared,” Heiser said.
Though Heiser has talked to the commissioners about the impact mandatory police body cameras would have on her office before, this week she presented figures associated with the specific staffing plan she believes is necessary moving forward. She said she needed 12 new positions—six attorneys and six assistants—at a cost of $822,918. That would bring her office to 36 staff members in fiscal year 2023. By the following year, she believes she could need as many as 41 individuals on staff.
With Maryland State Police poised to implement body cameras July 1, 2023 and with the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and Ocean City Police Department hoping to move forward with programs as soon as possible, Heiser said it was critical she begin hiring now. She noted that the Town of Ocean City had offered to provide office space so some of her attorneys could be based there. Though the second floor of the town’s new public works building wouldn’t be ready until next year, in the interim she said her staff could be housed in another municipally owned space as well as in the district court building.
Worcester has more cases than larger jurisdictions, and less staffing…yet they do a great job… this will definitely help out… especially when body cams will show the real story…cut down on BS accusations against cops
GTFOOH!!!! Twelve more positions created just to review some Police video footage??? I have a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you! Wake up Worcester County Sheeple!!! Wake up, Such wasteful spending! This is a classic example of over hiring and over spending Period!
Ignorance is bliss… you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. It’s not just looking at camera footage… think about it…every arrest, every agency… think about summer…the stupid H20 people that come and act up… fourth of July…300,000 thousand people in OC… some videos are very long… even if it was just looking at it, it could take one person all day for only a small fraction of the arrests…times that by a hundred officers..every bit of that footage must be reviewed, documented, saved, given to defense for discovery… you have absolutely ZERO knowledge of how things work.
Let me guess, You must of voted for Joe Biden! Lordy Mercy…
To Post 3:22Pm: If this is Worcester County State’s Attorney Kris Heiser good luck and good bye! You will be terminated in the near future for your incompetence and overhiring practices honey….
I say hire (4) more County Commissioners while you are at it! LMAO!
when you raise your piggyback tax to what the rest of the state residents are paying then I might start to give a rats @ss about oc/Worcester county!