Photo by Toby Talbot/AP
VICE News is closely watching policing in America. Check out the Officer Involved blog here.The Los Angeles Police Department will soon have a set of high-tech Tasers in its arsenals that when used will trigger video recording and track key information at the time of use.With 3,000 of the weapons ordered, the new Taser X26P will track the date, time, and length of firing when an officer uses the device, according to a report fromReuters. Using the Taser will also instantly trigger body cameras worn by cops, initiating a video recording of the incident."The Los Angeles Police Department is committed to implementing safety measures to reduce the risk of injuries to both our officers and the members of our community, while improving trust within our communities," Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said in a statement.According to Beck, the Taser deployment will compliment plans to outfit Los Angeles police officers with body cameras. In the next few years, he said the goal is to issue both Tasers and body cameras to all of the city's nearly 10,000 cops. This bolsters plans announced in December to provide Taser body cameras to 7,000 officers who patrol the streets of LA.While the rest of the country grapples with questions of police brutality in the wake of the deaths of unarmed black men Eric Garner and Mike Brown in separate incidents this summer, the LA has been dealing with uncertainties surrounding the August death of Ezell Ford. The 25-year-old mentally ill man had an altercation with police, who then shot him three times, once in the back.