Pittsburgh to test cameras officers will wear

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh police are buying 50 portable cameras that officers can wear on eyeglasses, hats or shirts to record their actions and those with whom they interact.

The Taser Axon Flex cameras will send a video feed that is automatically recorded and stored. The videos can even be tagged with key words so they can be retrieved or categorized in a data bank.

Chief Nate Harper says the cameras “will be a very valuable tool for both officer safety and citizen encounters.”

Police say the recordings could preserve evidence that police might fail to observe or recall in split-second, life-or-death situations. The recordings could also be used to back up the police version of incidents that become controversial when people use smartphones to record portions of encounters in which police are accused of brutality or other wrongdoing.