Police in Allen and Arlington will soon be equipped with body cameras.
The two police departments are the latest of a growing list of cities across the nation adding body cameras to their arsenal.
Tuesday night, Allen’s city council approved $350,000 to purchase 100 new body cameras and 57 new dash cameras.
"Regardless of what the incident is, it’s going to be to your advantage to have video and audio,” said Sgt. Jon Felty with the Allen Police Department.
The country's leading maker of both products is located in Allen.
It’s called Watchguard Video.
The company began in 2002 and now employs 270 people.
"We were founded to bring a direct to DVD in car video product for law enforcement,” said Watchguard’s President Steve Coffman.
Technology, of course, has evolved since then.
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Earlier this year, Watchguard released a new type of technology.
It synchronizes video and audio from both dash and body cameras, something Coffman says no other company is doing.
"There are other companies in this industry, of course, but nobody as large as we are especially on the in-car side, we are heads and shoulders above the rest,” said Coffman.
There are about 18,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide.
Coffman says Watchguard provides equipment to about one-third of those agencies.
Allen will have its new body and dash cameras installed by September 30.
Watchguard is building a new facility in Allen that will employ about 700 people, more than double the current number.
