There are twenty-two police agencies in macomb county submitting body-worn camera and other digital evidence to the macomb county prosecutors office

The County of Macomb, Michigan was awarded a $1,000,000 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Body Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program (CFDA 16.835). The grant will support the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office in enhancing its ability to effectively use and manage digital evidence from body-worn cameras and other sources. This includes creating a dedicated team to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of digital evidence processing. The grant is intended to promote transparency, accountability, and improved evidence collection for the 22 police agencies in Macomb County, which comprise over 1,194 sworn officers. The award period runs from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2027.

These 22 agencies comprise over 1194 sworn officers (2019 FBI data) who can potentially submit body worn camera and other digital evidence along with charges to the prosecutors office. The first major deployment of body worn cameras was with the macomb county sheriffs office starting april 2017. By december 2019 seven of the twenty-two policing agencies in the county had adopted body worn cameras. Today 15 of the agencies representing 94% of the officers in the county have adopted body worn cameras. In 2020 a newly elected macomb county prosecutor did recognize the flood of digital evidence and the need to TRY and get ahead of the trend. Two key and significant investments were made, standardizing the delivery of digital evidence using evidence.COM by axon and a digital case management system by karpel. Axon was launched in the spring of 2022 and karpel in 2023. These systems are now launched and fully functional providing a foundation to address the burgeoning volume of digital evidence which seems to continue to grow with adoption of technology by more agencies as well as businesses and the public. The macomb county prosecutors office proposal aims to enhance the offices ability to use and manage digital evidence from body worn cameras and other sources by creating a team focused on improving digital evidence efficiency and effectiveness.