Charles County sheriff's deputies who repeatedly fail to follow body-worn camera rules now risk losing their take-home patrol car, under new internal penalties the sheriff's office outlined to the county's Police Accountability Board. Every sworn officer in the county was equipped with a body camera by October 2025, and agency leaders say they are now focused on enforcing how those cameras get used.
A Year After Full Deployment, Enforcement Comes Into Focus
A sheriff's office representative told the Police Accountability Board on October 22 that the agency had set up an internal matrix for officers who do not follow body camera policy and is building a database to track violations, according to The BayNet. The rollout itself began in 2024, and by April 2025 the sheriff's office had issued 160 cameras, the outlet reported. Leaders confirmed in October 2025 that every sworn officer at both the sheriff's office and the La Plata Police Department was equipped with a device, meaning the cameras had been in officers' hands for a full year by the time the accountability board met.
The Charles County Sheriff's Office follows Maryland's statewide police disciplinary matrix, which state law requires every law enforcement agency to adopt, per the reporting. That state matrix classifies intentionally erasing body-camera or in-car camera footage as a Category F violation, its most serious tier, with termination as the only penalty, The BayNet reported. The sheriff's office has adopted the state matrix in Section 3-708 of its Administrative and Operational Manual, which is posted on the agency's transparency page.
Take-Home Cars On The Line For Repeat Offenders
Where Charles County has gone further is by layering its own penalties on top of the state framework. The sheriff's office applies the state matrix's penalties to first violations, then begins adding agency-level corrective measures starting with the second violation, according to the same report. Diane Richardson, communications director for the sheriff's office, said those additional measures include the loss of an employee's take-home car privileges.
Under the state matrix as described by the outlet, a first Category B violation brings a letter of reprimand and up to two days of lost leave or pay, while a second violation within 36 months brings one to three days of lost leave or pay. Richardson said the added agency penalties are meant to reinforce the importance of using the cameras, the station's report noted.
Most Missed Recordings Are Not Intentional, Agency Says
Richardson told the board that the sheriff's office does not believe it has encountered a case of intentionally erased camera footage, and the agency treats forgetting to turn on a camera as a lesser violation than deliberate tampering, per the same account. She reported that most missed recordings happen during fast-moving emergencies rather than on purpose, and said newer officers trained on the cameras at the academy are learning to use them right away, while some longtime officers are still developing the habit.
Agency policy, as described on the sheriff's office's own site, lays out specific moments when cameras must be activated: at the start of a call and before engaging with the public, during investigative or enforcement encounters, and whenever a situation becomes confrontational. Responding officers must also activate their cameras when exiting their vehicles, and a patrol car's emergency lights will trigger the associated camera automatically. Per Charles County Sheriff's Office policy, the cameras record the 60 seconds immediately preceding activation, officers generally must tell people they are being recorded at the start of a recording unless doing so is unsafe or impractical, and officers are barred from deleting or altering footage or intentionally deactivating a camera without a clear investigative purpose.
Footage Requests Have Surged Alongside The Rollout
The sheriff's office's 2025 Annual Report describes how video requests are handled. The agency hired four full-time Records Technicians in September 2025 specifically to support the body-worn-camera program, the report states. Footage is processed, redacted and released in accordance with the Maryland Public Information Act.
Charles County's approach to activation timing and discipline echoes rules already in place elsewhere in Maryland. Cumberland's police department adopted a 2024 policy requiring uniformed on-duty officers to wear forward-facing cameras and activate them at the start of enforcement or investigative calls, with officers directed to begin recording at the first reasonable opportunity if they cannot do so right away. That policy similarly states that intentionally turning off a camera in violation of department rules or state law will result in discipline, and requires footage to be categorized and tagged within seven calendar days. In Howard County, all police officers are issued body-worn cameras, and compliance with the program's policy is mandatory, with violations resulting in disciplinary action.
