COLUMBUS (AP) — Over the next six months, Ohio will join a growing number of states whose highway troopers are equipped with body cameras.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine joined Ohio State Highway Patrol Superintendent Richard Fambro to announce the program’s kickoff Tuesday.
The $15 million program includes distribution and installation of 1,550 new body cameras, as well as 1,221 in-car systems that will synchronize the new cameras with existing dashboard and rear-seat cameras in use by Ohio troopers for 20 years.
They will be distributed in batches through May 2022, starting with central Ohio posts this month (see illustration).
The push comes as police body cameras have become increasingly common nationally.