CINCINNATI - It's a new day for Capt. Kimberly Williams and her District 2 police team.
"When I came on, this was something that wasn’t in my sights whatsoever,” Williams said after her officers were issued body cameras at roll call Monday.
But with incidents involving police over the past few years, she knew it would be inevitable.
"The body cams, from my perspective, are going to show what our officers do for the most part," Williams said.
Ninety more Cincinnati officers are now equipped with the cell phone-size Axon Body 2 models from TASER International. Officers also sat in on an information session to learn how to use them.
CPD started requiring officers to wear them in August.
Since District 1 officers started wearing body cameras in August, more than 4,500 videos have been recorded and 675 hours of footage has been captured.
All of it has been stored just like other evidence would be.
"I believe they’re important because of the accountability and the transparency that we have for our community,” Williams said.
People who live and work in District 2 tell us body cams are a good idea.
"I believe the police should have that ability to turn it on to protect themselves,” Katie Coughlin said.
"I think it’s an awesome idea because a lot of times things happen that you don’t get on camera that you wish you had on camera,” said Tammie Policinski.
District 2 is the largest of the six CPD districts. It consists of Evanston, East Walnut Hills, O'Bryonville, Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout, Oakley, Madisonville, Kennedy Heights, Pleasant Ridge, East End, Columbia-Tusculum, Linwood, Mt. Washington and California.
"I think it’s probably a good idea," said Dan Dutro. "I think especially with everything that's gone on lately, i think we need to know what happens.”
Dutro says he is a big supporter of police and he believes body cameras will bring more transparency to the department.
"If the police are doing it right, they shouldn’t have any objection to it," Dutro said.
Police expect 700 officers to have body cameras by the end of the year.
The camera program is going to cost $6 million through the next seven years.
