Every Chicago Police patrol officer is now outfitted with a body camera, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. More than 7,000 district-assigned officers, tactical officers and supervisors are equipped with body cameras, making Chicago the largest deployment of body cameras in the nation. “In addition to protecting the rights of the people that we serve, these devices help us take a look at what we’re doing right and where we can improve,” Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said at a news conference Sunday.
The pilot program was launched in the Shakespeare District on the Northwest Side in 2015 and was expanded to six more districts in 2016. The initial rollout was planned over two years, but at the end of 2016 the expansion was expedited and the rollout was completed one year ahead of schedule.