Cranston, Warwick and West Warwick will share in a more than $1.5 million grant for implementation of police-worn body cameras.

Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation has teamed up with local law enforcement, communities, and the U.S. Department of Justice to help provide frontline patrol officers across the state with body-worn cameras, according to a press release from U.S. Rep. David N. Cicilline’s office.

The state delegation argues “these cameras help enhance transparency and strengthen community trust and can be an effective tool for increasing police accountability, de-escalating confrontational situations, and improving evidence documentation,” according to the press release. U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin and Cicilline announced the new $1.5 million federal grant under the Department of Justice’s Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program. The Rhode Island Department of Public Safety is expected to distribute the funds to 11 of the state’s police departments, providing more than 700 frontline patrol officers across the state with body-worn cameras. The $1,526,000 grant from the DOJ will help the following municipal departments implement broad-scale body-worn camera programs: Central Falls, Cranston, Jamestown, Narragansett, North Kingstown, Pawtucket, South Kingstown, Warwick, West Warwick, and Woonsocket.

“State and municipal leaders in Rhode Island have long recognized the importance of body-worn cameras as tools to protect both citizens and law enforcement,” the delegation wrote in their letter supporting the Department of Safety’s application. “Expanding the use of this technology by state and local law enforcement agencies will further assist police departments in promoting accountability on the part of officers and citizens, aid law enforcement by providing crucial evidence in criminal cases, and strengthen community trust in policing.”