At a Kansas City Police Department community listening session Saturday, Chief Darryl Forté said it’s “highly likely” that officers will wear body cameras soon.
Forté has called together a community work group to gather information on what camera services are best for the department, but said he doesn’t have a specific schedule at this time.
"I didn't give them a timeline, because if I say 30 days, they'll bring me something in 30 days and it might not be the best product," Forté said. "The collective bargaining unit for the police officers and the sergeants have endorsed [cameras], and it's something I strongly endorse as well."
Forté said that while body cameras themselves are inexpensive, storing the collected data through cloud services is often exorbitant. He also said that the work group will be examining privacy issues, such as Sunshine requests for camera footage and anonymity for rape victims who are interviewed by camera wearing officers.
