Miami officers receive DOJ grant for body cams

Officials announced about half of Miami’s 1,300-member police department will be equipped with body cameras by 2019

By David Smiley
Miami Herald

MIAMI — About half Miami’s 1,300-member police department will be equipped with body cameras by 2019, the city has announced.

With tensions flaring once again around the country over officer-involved shootings, Miami police received a $960,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to fund the purchase and implementation of police cameras. The city secured the grant last week in part by pledging $400,000 of its own dollars.

The money, according to Miami’s 2017 budget, will pay “for the purchase of 640 body worn cameras, uploading of equipment, digital storage, and technicians to handle the management, retrieval, redaction and release of digital media for the department.” Miami police already own around 100 Taser cameras, purchased more than a year ago as part of a pilot program.