ALBANY, N.Y. -- Starting Monday, several officers in the Albany Police department will have new pieces of equipment when they hit the streets.

The department will begin to roll out body cameras as part of its daily operations.

“It’s part of the growing community sentiment across the country that body cameras should help with a lot of different things going on in the police-community relations,” said Robert Sears, the acting Albany Police chief.

The APD is using a $133,000 grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to pay for the cameras. The grant requires a 100 percent match in funding. When fully implemented, the camera body program will cost $284,000 a year. 

"Once we're fully implemented, every patrol officer, any officer, and traffic safety officer will have them," Sears said. "Every shift, every day, every minute."

The department chose the Axon Body 2 model after a pilot program of 20 volunteer officers. Over the last two years, the Albany Community Policing Advisory Committee has worked closely with the police department on developing the body camera policy.

"I give the Albany Police Department a great deal of credit for trying to get as much community input as possible,” said Ray Moran, the ACPAC chair.

Officers will be required to turn on the cameras on all calls and street encounters. Footage on the cameras will be kept for up to 180 days or longer if needed.

"Not only is it going to be good for [evidence] value, they’re going to be good for public accountability, trust; they’re going to be for accuracy," Sears said.