Iowa City goal: Body cameras for every police officer by year’s end

IOWA CITY - The Iowa City Police Department hopes to have a body camera for every officer on the force by the end of the year.

According to Sgt. Scott Gaarde of the Iowa City Police Department, the body cameras offer police and the public a firsthand perspective of interactions, which can help determine fault or settle a disagreement after the fact.

Gaarde said the department hopes to have a fleet of more than 80 cameras. Officers are in the process of evaluating different options. They have been wearing body cameras since last year, but currently only have about a dozen.

The cost of the additional cameras could range from $200,000 to $600,000, depending on the vendor, Gaarde said. Police plan to make that decision in the coming weeks so they can get the cameras by the end of the year.

Recent events in Ferguson, Mo. have sparked a national discussion on the value of having cameras mounted on officers during interactions with the public.

Iowa City police say they first started using cameras when they were mounted in police cars back in 1996.