Sacramento police will put body cameras on all patrol officers by September

A handful of Sacramento patrol officers will begin wearing body cameras this month and all should have them by September under a plan the City Council passed Tuesday night.

The Sacramento Police Department will purchase 750 cameras for all patrol staff, as well as 70 cameras for training, 50 shared units for officers with occasional contact with the public and 20 spares under a five-year, $4 million agreement approved by the Council. The city will buy the cameras from Taser Interna- tional, the company best known for its yellow-tipped electric stun guns.

All patrol officers are expected to be wearing them by September, according to police spokesman Bryce Heinlein. The city plans to have 28 cameras on officers by the end of March.

Councilman Allen Warren, who pursued changes in police practices last year after highprofile fatal shootings, said the cameras would provide a new layer of trust and accountability between the police and the community.

“I think if worn the way they are intended to be they can be very effective,” Warren said. “They provide an actual audio and video of the occurrences when they are happening and it’s a valuable piece of information.”

Officers have discretion to turn cameras off in specific circumstances such as to protect victims’ privacy, according to the department’s general orders.