About 82 percent of U.S. police departments equip their officers with body cameras. Several states from New Mexico to New Jersey legally require all law enforcement officers to wear them. Florida does not. 

In Florida, mid-size and small departments like Clewiston have been slower to embrace  the modern-day equipment due in large part to excessive costs to purchase them.  
 
But the cameras are coming to cash-strapped Clewiston thanks to a generous community grant from the TJX Law Enforcement Grant Program, the Clewiston Police Department announced on Facebook.

That grant is through TJX Companies — the parent company of TJ Maxx and Marshalls — and while the company directly equips its own loss prevention staff with body cameras in certain locations, its municipal police grants are generally intended for a variety of public safety tech.

The post said the cameras will reinforce the department’s commitment to objective truth and enhanced transparency during every interaction. 

According to the National Policing Institute, a consistent finding among law enforcement agencies that used body-worn cameras is the significant reduction in civilian complaints filed against officers wearing the cameras.  

It cited Las Vegas as having a 37% reduction after rolling out the cameras. Also in Las Vegas, use of force by police also decreased by  25 percent through the National Policing Institute said findings on use of force are more varied throughout the country.
  
Clewiston anticipate the rollout will be completed by the end of July.  

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