With little fanfare, the Buffalo Police Department kicked off a pilot program to test body camera technology at the downtown St. Patrick’s Day parade Sunday.

It’s the start of two trial periods, each lasting two months, to learn the equipment and procedures for reviewing and processing the footage.

Eventually 26 officers on the afternoon shift from the department’s B District will use the cameras. This shift was selected as officers will collect day and nighttime video for examination, Buffalo police explained Tuesday.

They will try to figure out which cameras are best based on how easy they are to turn on and off and how easy they are to mount on uniforms.

The department is trying out cameras from two vendors, as price ranges from $400 to $1,000 per camera depending who sells it.

Storing the video also is expensive: the total cost could be anywhere from $1.1 million to $1.5 million annually.

During the four months of testing, the department also will develop its policy on how much video is saved and for how long and when officers will turn the cameras on.

After four months of testing, a panel will be put together to review the video and present a comprehensive report to the police commissioner.