Three New Jersey Cities Set To Roll Out Police Body Cameras

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD is now testing body cameras with officers at three precincts, and the state of New Jersey just announced police in three of the state's biggest cities will also soon be wearing cameras.

"I applaud the body cameras. I don't know if it will chance much, because we've had clear videos of a lot of things so I just hope it gets better," one resident told CBS2's Meg Baker.

The goal of the cameras is to avoid destructive protests such as the ones in Ferguson, Missouri where video could have revealed what really happened when a police officer shot an unarmed teen. Jersey City's mayor Steve Fulop agreed and wants to be at the forefront of technology.

"I think this ultimately is going to improve relationships between the community and police. It is going to protect the police officers as much as it protects the community," he said.

Three cities in New Jersey; Newark, Paterson, and Jersey City are making the largest single purchase of body cams in the nation, more than 2,000. By comparison the NYPD will outfit 60 police officers with body cameras in a pilot program.

The camera will be worn on the officer's chest, shoulder, or eyeglasses recording both audio and video and then saved on a server.

Fulop said the benefit outweighs the costs.

The technology is expected to arrive in early 2015, adding more eyes on the street.

Residents in Journal Square welcome it.

"I think it's a great idea, primarily because it may eliminate any question of what occurred," Barry Lafer said.

"It's going to protect the police, and protect those who are innocent. And if you did something wrong it's going to prove you did something wrong," another resident added.

Some residents are skeptical of cameras having any impact after seeing video of the Eric Garner incident.

Jersey City is looking to increase public safety while saving taxpayers money with this combined purchase.

It will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for Jersey City alone. The most expensive component will be the data storage.

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