(La Porte County, IN) - La Porte County Police officers will soon be wearing body cameras.

Sheriff John Boyd said the body cameras, at a price tag of more than $650,000, would also be worn by courthouse security officers.

Boyd said the purchase is like an investment because the cameras will help collect evidence in criminal cases and pay dividends in other ways like protecting the county from any lawsuits alleging wrongdoing by his department.

“We have very few confrontations with the public, but we also know it can go south very quickly, and we want to make sure we provide an accurate portrayal and picture of exactly what happened.  It’s worth a thousand words,” he said.

Boyd said each camera is built into the uniforms of the officers. The county hopes to start using the body cameras in early June.