Elkhart’s mayor seeking $349K for police body cameras

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) – The mayor of the northern Indiana city of Elkhart wants to spend $349,000 to buy 80 body cameras for the city’s police force.

Mayor Dick Moore was scheduled to ask Elkhart’s city council on Monday to approve the request that’s part of $3.75 million in proposed capital spending for 2015 for the city.

The Elkhart Truth reports Moore said in a recent letter that public safety “was uppermost” in his decision” to back the funding request for the body cameras.

Several Indiana cities have purchased body cameras for their officers following fatal police shootings in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York that spurred racial unrest.

Those shooting spurred calls to equip police around the nation with body-worn cameras that can record police encounters with suspects.