Baltimore Police To Spend $6.8M On New Body Cameras

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore Police are planning to spend an additional $6.8 million for thousands of police body cameras.

Over the past three years, it's hard to argue that another department has faced more scrutiny than Baltimore City Police.

Since then, it has been an ongoing effort to rebuild trust within the city.

"I can't speak for the other 18,000 police departments in the country, I can just speak for the Baltimore Police Department, and we're putting our money where our mouth is," former police commissioner Kevin Davis said.

Davis often released body camera video to the public over incidents that sparked outrage, which cleared up countless police-involved shootings or highlighted officers accused of planting evidence -- even officers from the Gun Trace Task Force, who were caught robbing and terrorizing citizens.

The department already had a multi-million dollar contract and will now add another $7 million to equip 2,500 officers with body cameras in an effort to build police-community relationships, which are in desperate need of more transparency.

This move will bring the total body camera contract to about $18.5 million -- a contract that was supposed to end in a few years now extends to 2023.

The Board of Estimates, which is controlled by Mayor Catherine Pugh, is set to award the amendment Wednesday.

City officers wrote that the company offered "favorable" discounts in persuading them to extend the contract.

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