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All of Ohio’s state troopers will soon be equipped with body cameras and cameras in their cruisers.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol will spend $15 million for 1,550 body cameras and 1,221 in-car systems, to be in place and running by May. The cameras will be deployed starting with troopers in Columbus starting this month.
Gov. Mike DeWine says they’ll all work together automatically.
“This new system will integrate new dash cameras, new rear-seat cameras, and new body cameras into a single system that will simultaneously record the interactions between our troopers and those driving on our highways. When the lights and sirens start rolling, so will the body cameras,” he said.
Highway Patrol superintendent Col. Richard Fambro was among the first troopers to test the system and welcomes the transparency that cameras provide.
“The monitoring and review systems established in 2000 remain in place today and have been continually refined as data collection systems and technological capabilities have improved. The body camera adds another level of transparency, and we welcome that,” Fambro said.
DeWine had announced earlier this year that a Republican-backed bill on police accountability would be coming soon, but it hasn’t been introduced so far.
Democrats introduced a body camera bill in July, but it’s had no hearings.
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