Ohio takes big step by sending body cams to all its prisons

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio prison system says it will deploy more than 5,000 body cameras by May in all state prisons and adult parole authority offices. The director of the Ohio corrections department said Thursday that the state has signed a contract with Arizona-based Axon for the cameras. Axon says Ohio is the first state to deploy body-worn cameras systemwide in its prisons. And it says its program is the largest of any corrections department globally. The corrections department says the cameras are another tool for the agency to help protect staff members and inmates.