Key West Police To Start Using Body Cameras

WLRN Public Media | By Nancy Klingener

Published July 24, 2015 at 3:43 PM EDT

Monroe Sheriff Rick Ramsay, left, presented Key West Police Chief Donie Lee, right, with 100 body cameras in February. Now the Key West officers are set to start using them.

On Monday, the Key West Police Department will join the growing ranks of South Florida law enforcers wearing body cameras.

The department has been working on training and coming up with a policy for body cameras since February. That's when the Monroe County Sheriff's Office gave the police 100 cameras. The money came from fees that the Sheriff's Office receives to administer grants under the federal High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program.

Key West Police Chief Donie Lee warned that the cameras are not infallible and that they will not capture every encounter with every officer.

But he said hopes the cameras will increase accountability "on both sides of the lens."

Miami and Miami Beach police departments started using body cameras in a trial period earlier this year. Miami-Dade police are scheduled to start using body cameras by the end of the year.

Listen to our report on Key West Police Department's choice to wear body cameras.