All patrol officers in the nation's capital will be equipped with body cameras by next summer under a bill signed by Mayor Muriel Bowser.
The new law provides funding for 2,400 cameras for District of Columbia police in addition to the 400 that are already in use. Bowser, a Democrat, said at Wednesday's signing ceremony that the city will have "the most comprehensive, innovative body-worn camera program in America."
Most of the footage from the cameras will be available to the public through the city's open-records law. Bowser initially proposed that most videos be shielded from the public. But she says she's happy with the final result because video captured inside people's homes will be kept private. She says she didn't want the cameras to deter people from calling police.
