Minnesota State Patrol Completes Rollout of Body Cameras

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KEYC) - Minnesota State Patrol trooper are now fully equipped with body-worn cameras.

The state-wide rollout of the Body Camera Project began Dec. 1, 2021, and was completed on-time and within the projected budget.

“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,” said Col. Matt Langer, chief of the Minnesota State Patrol said in a statement.

During the project, the Minnesota State Patrol installed 644 in-car camera systems and issued body-worn cameras to 613 sworn members of the patrol and 92 non-sworn members. Body-worn cameras have also been issued to commercial vehicle inspectors and capitol security officers. In total, it issued 705 body cameras and 1,349 camera systems over the last five months.

According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, troopers are projected to record an average of 3,212.66 pieces of video evidence or 616.36 hours per day across the state.