State Patrol finishes bodycam rollout; 705 issued

The Minnesota State Patrol says it has completed its body camera rollout project as scheduled.

The project began on Dec. 1, 2021. As part of the rollout, 705 body cameras were issued to patrol members — 613 to sworn members, 92 to non-sworn members — and 644 in-car camera systems were installed, the State Patrol says.

RELATED: Minnesota State Troopers to begin wearing body cameras

“Although we’d like to think every state trooper is perfect, we are human beings just like everyone else. Capturing interactions on body-worn cameras will help hold everyone accountable because they provide a record of what actually occurred between the trooper and the member of the public,” Col. Matt Langer, chief of the Minnesota State Patrol, said in a statement.

Since the project started, the State Patrol has captured more than 281,680 pieces of video evidence, totaling more than 60,631 hours of video. The agency says it projects troopers will record over 616 hours of video evidence per day now.

Last year, the Minnesota Legislature approved $8 million for cameras for all troopers, Capitol security and all other state law enforcement officers.