NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Police Department is launching the first phase of a plan to equip 22,000 officers with body cameras.

The initiative was set to begin Thursday with police brass attending a roll call for camera-wearing officers at a Manhattan precinct. The department expects to deploy 1,200 cameras around the city in the next few weeks.

The NYPD recently finalized guidelines on using the devices. Rules require officers to turn on their cameras when making arrests, pursuing criminal suspects or dealing with crime scenes.

The city agreed to start using the cameras following a 2013 federal court decision finding that the NYPD had wrongly targeted black and Hispanic men with its stop-and-frisk tactics.

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.