El Paso Police Department receives 792 body cameras

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The body cameras for the El Paso Police Department have started to arrive.

Back in March 2022, El Paso City Council approved using $6.6 million from the American Rescue Plan to purchase a Digital Video Recording System.

The system includes 792 body-worn cameras and 410 mobile video recorders.

El Paso City Council Rep. Henry Rivera said he was ecstatic when he learned the body cameras had arrived.

He told ABC-7, they will help bring transparency to the department. Rivera said it will benefit officers and the public.

"It will make the officers better, as it is they get a lot of extensive training. So it will make them a lot better and more confident in their encounter with the public. It will give them that sense of comfort to have that conversation or an encounter," he said.

Rep. Rivera said throughout his time on city council he has been strongly advocating for the cameras.

In 2018, he was able to secure a $110,000 grant to purchase 34 cameras.

"It brings transparency, it brings a lot of trust and to develop further trust in the community, and of course accountability," Rep. Rivera said.

The body cameras will go toward patrol and traffic officers.

Rivera said 120 body cameras have already been distributed to the Pebble Hills Regional Command Center.

The deployment will continue in phases with he Northeast Regional Command Center later this month and the other regions to follow.

El Paso County Commissioner Carlos Leon told ABC-7, body cameras are important for police officers and the public.

Commissioner Leon was part of the El Paso Police Department for 30 years.