A Department of Justice program gives Tulsa police $599,200 to buy body cameras.
The process will take some time. The department hopes to have 40 cameras from several vendors being field tested by the end of the year.
"It's not one of those that, you know, you go down to your local radio shop or something and buy body-worn cameras," said Ofc. Leland Ashley. "We're going to have to do our due diligence in purchasing these cameras to make sure we spend the money appropriately and correctly."
TPD is currently considering 10 vendors for field testing toward the end of the year, though not all of them might make that cut. The department has been working on buying body cameras for awhile now.
"This grant just really will allow us to move it on a little bit further and ultimately purchase the total number of cameras," Ashley said. "Probably, we wouldn't have been looking at being able to purchase 850 body cameras without this grant."
The DOJ awarded 73 matching-funds grants through its body camera pilot implementation program. TPD is the only Oklahoma agency receiving one.
The few agencies receiving significantly larger grants than Tulsa were in large cities such as Chicago, L-A and Washington, D.C.
