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More Than 1K Baltimore Co. Officers To Wear Body Cameras By 2017

TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) -- More than 1,000 officers in Baltimore County will soon be equipped with body cameras.

During a major announcement in Baltimore County on Thursday, officials said by July of 2017 approximately 1, 435 officers will wear police body cameras.

WJZ's Derek Valcourt has more.

The first 150 body-worn cameras (BWCs) are scheduled for deployment in July 2016; they will be deployed equally throughout the ten precincts to officers in a variety of assignments.

"My men and women will have to accept this as a tool in policing that is here to stay," said Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson.

In the wake of recent police-involved deaths like Michael Brown in Ferguson, Eric Garner in New York and Freddie Gray in Baltimore, police departments around the country have been turning to body cameras as a tool to increase public confidence.

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz says the benefits are worth the $7.1 million price tag to pay for the first five years.

"Body cameras have the potential to improve public safety," Kamenetz said. "We expect both officer and citizen behavior to improve. Reductions in complaints against officers and more efficient, effective prosecutions are other expected benefits."

"It is a misuse of tax payer dollars, " said David Rose, FOP Lodge 4.

Leaders in the county's police union say that statistics show that cameras aren't needed.

With more than 572,289 calls for service and approximately 26,989 arrests last year, the department says they had only 89 citizen complaints.

And over the last six years, the use of force by county police has dropped 22 percent, with a little more than 1 percent warranting the use of force.

Rose says the money could be used elsewhere, such as air conditioning for schools and funding the 38 officer positions that the county has left unfunded.

Kamenetz believes the cameras could save the county some cost in prosecution and court time, but will ultimately build public trust.

The standard operating procedures for use of the cameras will not be finalized until after the General Assembly session and any subsequent action by the legislature pursuant to the recommendations of a state commission on body cameras.

Baltimore County employs around 1,900 officers and is the 21st largest police department in the United States.

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