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BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana State Police plans to equip about 700 troopers with body cameras, calling it a deployment that will be the largest of its kind for a state public safety agency.
State Police Col. Mike Edmonson announced Wednesday that the agency will purchase more than 1,500 body cameras through a five-year, $5.3 million contract with TASER International Inc.
Troopers patrolling in New Orleans will be the first to get the cameras, in January. The State Police expects the cameras to be deployed statewide by next summer.
Each trooper will be equipped with two cameras, which automatically turn on if a trooper activates a stun gun.
The agency experimented with the cameras earlier this year by equipping 22 troopers with them.