SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — In the wake of the Ferguson and Staten Island grand jury decisions, The Utah Department of Public Safety says it plans to equip all 560 officers with body cameras.
The agency said in a news release Thursday that it will cost about $500,000 a year to make it happen. That amount could rise in future years depending on how much it costs to catalog all the recordings from the cameras.
Public Safety Commissioner Keith Squires says being able to capture video of law enforcement events is an important tool.
Civil rights groups have been calling for an expanded use of body cameras to increase accountability of police actions.
Prosecutors recently used video taken from a body camera worn by a Salt Lake City police officer to rule he was justified in killing a 20-year-old man outside a convenience store.
