Lancaster City Police Chief Keith Sadler said body cameras can help prevent false accusations against officers. "I think what folks will probably be amazed to find, a department that's fully operational with body cameras, they'll find that it's going to exonerate the police officer more than condemn the police officer," said Sadler.
He hopes to have at least some cameras on his officers next year as part of a pilot program to see how successful they are. There's a similar program in York that will give body cameras to two city school resource officers. However at roughly $500 dollars a camera they're expensive. Lancaster's District Attorney, Craig Stedman, said the $75 million from Washington isn't going to cut it.
"I think when you break down the number of police officers you have and the actual cost of each camera it's not as much as it sounds, cause you're talking about tons of police officers and an enormous expense to each municipality that's going to make an investment," said Stedman. He said taxpayers would also have to pay more as a result. Manor Township Police Chief Todd Graeff knows first hand the challenges of getting them. He requested eight for next year, but because of budget restraints he was denied. He said it's only a matter of time before they will be standard. "I think body cameras are a good tool to help police officers interact with the public and I'm hoping and I believe its the wave of the future," said Graeff who thinks police departments will have some version of the cameras within the next five to ten years.