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$600K grant will buy body cams for Cincinnati police officers' off-duty work

Posted at 9:49 AM, Sep 27, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-27 11:01:46-04

CINCINNATI -- A federal grant will pay for hundreds more body-worn cameras that Cincinnati police supervisors and officers will wear while working off-duty details.

The U.S. Department of Justice is giving the Cincinnati Police Department $600,000 to purchase 350 more body cameras from TASER International. The grant also will cover support software for the cameras, City Manager Harry Black said in a memo Monday.

Since August, the police department has been equipping patrol officers with body cameras to wear while on duty. The department purchased 700 cellphone-sized Axon Body 2 models from TASER and expects all patrol officers to have body cameras by the end of the year.

The program isn't expected to cost more than $6 million over seven years, Black said.

 

It will be up to officers to record incidents. They have procedures on when they're supposed to be recording, including any call they're dispatched on.

At the end of their shift, the video will be downloaded to a server. Video of incidents will be treated like any other video evidence.

The cameras have been shown in some areas to reduce complaints against officers.