KNOXVILLE, Tenn — The Knoxville Police Department has received its first shipment of new body and in-car cameras and started training on how to use them.
In July, the city council approved an agreement with Axon Enterprise, Inc. to outfit 350 officers with the new technology.
According to a post on Facebook, once training is complete, KPD hopes to deploy 50 body-worn cameras and upgraded in-car systems "at a forthcoming date to work through any issues." The rest will be deployed later.
This will be the first time that KPD officers will wear body cameras.
The call for body cameras came after a KPD officer shot and killed Channara "Philly" Pheap after a struggle last August. The officer was cleared of charges, but the community called for more transparency.
Recent unrest across the nation has also spurred more cities to consider installing the equipment as a way to be transparent and aid officers in the field.
"This is something our officers want and our community wants," Mayor Kincannon said during the council meeting where the contract was approved. "We hope to build greater trust between officers and the people they protect."
Chief Eve Thomas said that the department tried to mirror other accredited agencies' policies when creating KPD's body camera and in-car camera policies.
Plans call for all patrol officers to be wearing them by January 2021, according to the city.