Ypsilanti City Council has approved spending about $55,000 to buy 15 body-worn cameras for the police department. The money will also pay for an upgrade to the department's in-car video system.
Chief Tony DiGiusti says when people on either side of the camera know they're being recorded, there are fewer violent confrontations.
DiGiusti says the cameras will also be a valuable investigative tool.
"Whatever the officer sees is also being recorded," DiGiusti says. "So in an in-progress crime, that video will also be part of the evidence."
DiGiusti says the body-worn cameras have been ordered, and should be delivered in mid February. Following installation of the hardware, training would begin in early March.