IMPD starts testing of body cameras
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A new test of body cameras has begun for Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Testing began Sunday and will run 45 days.
IMPD said the trial run will help gather data to help the department and the community come up with a plan for implementing a long-term body camera plan.
Officers with the department’s busiest districts will wear the cameras during the trial run.
East District Commander Jerry Leary said, “For me, the way I would look at it as an officer, it gives an unbiased view of what happened. The camera just records it. It has no perception. It has no agenda.”
IMPD said it anticipates deployment of a body camera program may cost from $2 million-$3 million per year. That cost includes the lease of the equipment as well as cloud storage of audio and video data.
City officials have said if the testing period goes as planned, officers could be outfitted with body cameras by the end of 2019 or in early 2020.
Police in several Indiana communities — including the Indianapolis enclaves of Lawrence and Southport, and the cities of Carmel, Fishers and South Bend — already use body cameras.
RELATED: ‘When it’s recorded, that’s what happened’: Carmel police get body cameras | Fishers police officers prepare to use body cameras
