State of Illinois to mandate police body cameras

PEORIA (25 News Now) - A new change will be coming to police departments in 2025.

Each police department in the State of Illinois must have officers wearing body cameras. Bloomington Police Department’s public information officer said body cameras should be seen as tools and not weapons.

“The training we get to watch when things don’t go well or people don’t say the appropriate thing and learn from that training is almost as valuable as good training,” said Officer Brandt Parsley. “So, I would say it is an invaluable tool.”

The new SAFE-T act states each agency has to set up and implement its own policy for body cameras. The Central Illinois Police Training Center says it is costly but effective.

“It protects the officer and the citizens,” said Director of Illinois Police Training Brian Fengel. “If somebody does something that is not right, it is all on video.”