New York Police Department (NYPD) Sergeant Joseph Freer demonstrates how to use and operate a body camera during a media press conference. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The first NYPD body cameras hit the streets Thursday.

Nearly 60 officers at the 34th Precinct in Washington Heights began wearing the devices Thursday afternoon.

It was the first wave in a pilot program to deploy a total of 1,200 body-worn cams in 20 precincts.

Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker said the cameras will not run nonstop.

“Preferably as soon as possible when you are in the public space, we want the cameras rolling,” he said.

As WCBS 880’s Peter Haskell reported, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the body cams will be good for police officers and the community.

“We are going on a pathway of transparency and accountability,” de Blasio said.

By the fall, the NYPD will have more than 1,000 cameras on the street, WCBS 880’s Alex Silverman reported.

“This is the direction the city is moving in and moving in rapidly to have all our patrol officers wear body cameras by the end of 2019,” Mayor de Blasio said in January.

The city initiated the program following a 2013 court decision over the NYPD’s use of stop-and-frisk procedures.

Officers will have to record during arrests, searches, patrols in public housing buildings and traffic stops. In most cases they will be required to notified people they’re on camera.

Reform advocates and three police unions have objected to the initiative.