Police body cameras have been a hot topic for the Warren Police Department for years. The City of Warren has approved the purchase of four cameras to be divided among officers patrolling city streets.

"I'm elated to know they are finally on the horizon," said Cheryl Saffold, Ward 6 Councilwoman.

"I still think this is a slow process," said Helen Rucker, Councilwoman at-large. "I just can't believe a city the size of Warren is taking so long for this to happen."

Both Rucker and Saffold have pushed for body cameras every year and are fortunate the city approved spending over $50,000 on four cameras.

Rucker said these will actually be saving the city thousands of dollars.

"We have paid thousands of dollars in lawsuits because it was a 'he said she said thing," Rucker said. "We couldn't prove anything and so we wind up just settling and paying thousands of dollars and it causes our insurance to skyrocket."

The city says there's still a lot of planning to do on the logistics of training, when they'll be used and how often.

Warren Safety Service Director, Eddie Colbert, told 21 News on Monday the cameras will be cycled into a new dash cam system, which means when the dash cameras are on, so are the body cameras.

"That camera can give us a better gauge of what happens on that street at that moment," Rucker said. "We can not afford not to do it."

The city council and Colbert said the body cameras will start being used once everyone is trained on how to use them sometime after the new year.