The Akron Police Department was awarded a grant to purchase body cams for its officers.
The U.S. Department of Justice will give the department $367,476 to fund approximately 245 body cams.
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The grant requires the city to match funding.
According to a release, the department's objective is to purchase and deploy the cameras over a period of time while establishing a formal policy about the use of body cameras.
The city partnered with Kent State University to perform controlled tests using the body camera technology.
A large part of the overall cost of instating the body cams is the storage of the data captured by the cameras, the release states.
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Akron Major Jeff Fusco made a statement about the cameras:
This is another fine example of our Akron Police Department creatively seeking out new ways to implement best practices and improve safety for both officers and the public. I applaud Chief Nice’s diligent efforts to acquire this funding and his efforts over the last few years to secure contracts to test body cameras from multiple providers, at no cost to the citizens.
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