Body cameras for police officers are on the wish list for the City of Arlington.
Now it's up to the city council to decide if it wants to spend more than $2 million for the technology.
Arlington has already spent $50,000 on a 6-month pilot program. The program put 50 body cameras on officers, and the results were positive.
Now officers want 350 cameras for the rest of the force.
The total price tag will be $2.4 million. That includes the cameras, infrastructure to store all the video, and 15 new sergeant or supervisor positions to review the video and oversee the program.
"We are looking to outfit about 350 officers with the cameras so that's going to cover patrols and some specialized units," said Vanessa Harrison, Arlington police sergeant.
"But we also have to make sure that we are covering personnel that's going to review the footage and manage the process of the video cameras," said Harrison.
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APD believes body cameras will go a long way toward improving trust between officers and the community.
"We believe that the officers integrity can be protected and the citizens will feel that the officers are held accountable," said Harrison.
The body camera program is part of a $478.1 million proposed budget for Arlington. There will be two town hall meetings which begin later this month.
Council will vote on the budget in September.
