HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – The Hollywood Police department is one of the fewest departments across the state that doesn’t have officer body-worn cameras, but thanks to some federal funding, more than a million dollars will be coming to this department for the cameras.
Congresswoman Frederica Wilson stopped by the Hollywood Commission Chambers on Wednesday to present the funding in person.
The department is now getting $1.7 million in federal funding for some long overdue equipment which is 250 body-worn cameras.
“I saw it as a need and I wasn’t even aware that they did not have body-worn cameras,” Wilson said.
The Mayor of Hollywood Josh Levy said the city has been trying to get the cameras, but the funding simply wasn’t there.
“It’s been something we’ve been reviewing for years, the department has internally. the technology has been continually improving and so it was just a matter of funding,” Levy said.
The money comes from the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill signed by President Joe Biden and it was co-sponsored by Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz as part of hers and Wilson’s community project funding appropriation requests.
“These body cameras will not only enforce and increase transparency and accountability, but they will help the constituents of Hollywood safe and for our brave officers that put their lives on the line each day,” Wilson said.
The funding will also pay for software along with hiring four new staff members to launch the program.
By the time all the equipment is in and everyone is trained, the cameras should be in place and on officers in about eight months to a year.