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Officers Say Suspects Behave Better With Body Cams Present

KCBS_740SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- About 250 San Francisco police officers now wear chest-mounted body cameras, with all 1,800 officers expected to carry one by around the end of the year.

Luke Larson with Taser International showed off the new crime-fighting devices at the department's Ingleside station like it was a handbag, or fashion accessory.

"The camera in itself is a really elegant solution," Larson said.

"I've been in a few tussles with it, and it hasn't come off yet," Officer Kyle Wren, who is assigned to the Bayview station said.

Wren said he noticed right away that suspects tend to behave better once they spot the cameras.

Captain Joseph McFadden says overall, officers seem to like the new body cams, and the public should too if an officer breaks the law.

"It can't be tampered with. It gets downloaded, and it's out of their hands, it's out of their control. There isn't any way they can go in and play with the video at all, or do anything to facilitate the changing of it to make it exonerate him," McFadden said.

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