COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Columbus officials say 12 traffic officers have been equipped with the city’s first police body cameras after months of discussion about how the cameras would be used and deployed.
A city statement Thursday says the officers began wearing body cameras Wednesday night. The remainder of the traffic unit is expected to receive cameras by the end of January. Officers in the bicycle unit are scheduled to get them by the end of May after police substations are wired with fiber optic cable.
A committee was formed in September 2015 to explore purchasing body cameras for Columbus police.
Mayor Andrew Ginther included in the city’s proposed 2017 budget money for hiring seven employees to handle camera-related public records requests and prosecutor evidence. Columbus plans to equip 1,400 officers with body cameras.
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