Four hundred Las Vegas police officers soon will add an extra gadget to their ensemble: on-body cameras, a long-discussed plan that department leaders call the wave of the future, reports the Las Vegas Sun. The initiative comes with a compromise meant to appease the police union: It's a voluntary program, except for officers hired after July 11. “I don't want to go to court,” Sheriff Doug Gillespie said, explaining the rationale behind the compromise.
Officials expect the pilot program to cost $1.5 million, covering cameras and the related technology infrastructure, which includes video storage. The National Institute of Justice has awarded a grant that will pay for 200 cameras, plus an academic study looking at the effect of officers using on-body cameras, said Capt. Tom Roberts, who heads the Office of Internal Oversight. The department will buy another 200 cameras, bringing the total to 400. Officers wearing cameras would be required to record any interaction with the public, whether it's a car stop or arrest.