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San Diego’s police department became one of the first big cities in the country to outfit patrol officers with body-worn cameras when it began rolling out the technology in June 2014.
But SDPD wasn’t the first agency in San Diego County to take the body camera plunge – Coronado and Escondido’s police departments got the devices to their officers before SDPD. Increasingly across the country, police departments are jumping on the body camera bandwagon after President Obama promoted the technology as a way to bolster community trust of police.
Locally, Chula Vista also has joined the three other agencies in deploying cameras to its officers. The remaining seven agencies – Carlsbad, El Cajon, La Mesa, National City, Oceanside, San Diego Harbor Police and the Sheriff’s Department – are in various stages of considering purchasing the equipment. The Sheriff’s Department, the largest agency here without them, has solicited proposals from companies to provide them.
“We have been working on an appropriate policy and researching best practices and equipment,” spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said. “We hope to launch a 90-day testing to begin after the first of the year.”
The map below shows which San Diego departments have the cameras and what each department says about them. One note: The Sheriff’s Department has jurisdiction over unincorporated areas of the county as well, though they’re not marked on the map.