click to enlarge Oakland Housing Authority

A still image from an Oakland Housing Authority police recruitment video.

Following other police departments across the nation, the Oakland Housing Authority Police Department is proposing to outfit its officers with body cameras. The Housing Authority, which runs its own police department independently from the City of Oakland, has 34 sworn officers who patrol in and around the city's public housing and Section 8 homes. Last Monday, the Housing Authority posted a request for proposals seeking vendors who can outfit its cops with cameras. Greer McVay, a spokeswoman for the Housing Authority, said the cameras will "enhance service to the community by accurately documenting events, actions, conditions, and statements made during citizen encounters, traffic stops, arrests, and other incidents, and to help ensure officer and public safety."McVay said the Housing Authority intends to have every officer outfitted with a body camera by mid-2016, and that the agency is currently drafting a policy with respect to whether, and under what circumstances, video captured by the cameras will be made available to the public.