Changes are underway for Yonkers police officers as a new program is requiring some to wear body cameras.
Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano has announced the city has signed onto a free three-month pilot program, which will have 16 police officers from the 3rd and 4th precincts wearing body cameras starting Thursday.
More police departments are turning to body cameras amid nationwide calls for police accountability and reform, but it's something City Council Majority Leader Corazon Pineda-Isaac has called for since 2015. She says the pilot program is a step in the right direction.
Yonkers police will also be implementing new training for implicit bias and how to be an active bystander.
The city expects to outfit the department's 400 patrol officers with body cameras next year. The initial cost is $1.7 million.