Police carPolice officers in the United States have long been associated with their iconic badges and guns, a visible symbol of their authority to protect and their directive to serve. Soon, many Rochester police officers will be associated with a new addition to their uniform — body cameras.

The new U.S. Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, recently announced that the Justice Department would provide $23 million in grants to help local police departments purchase body cameras, including a $600,000 grant to the city of Rochester. The Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs is seeking to expand the adoption of body cameras nationwide.

Body cameras have become a hot topic in 2015, which has too often been marked by controversies over officer-involved shootings and deaths. The Rochester Police Department joins some of the nation’s biggest police departments in equipping its officers with cameras, which are already being worn right now in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City.

The new body camera program is similar to an earlier effort to help install in-car dash cameras in police cars. Between 2000 and 2003, the number of dash cameras in police cars jumped from 3,400 to 17,500. And in 2004, $21 million in federal grants helped police departments in 47 states install even more cameras. Today, 72% of state police and highway patrol cars have video recording systems.

Just like dash cams, activists say that body cameras will keep officers honest, and will help build trust between police and the communities they serve. While some officers oppose the program, others argue it will protect police wrongly accused of wrongdoing. In some cases this year, body cameras have been used to clear police of wrongdoing in fatal but justified shootings.

The Rochester city budget already includes $2 million for body cameras, but local politicians sought state and federal grants as well. About 480 Rochester police officers will wear the cameras.

“As we support local leaders and law enforcement officers in their work to protect their communities, we are mindful that effective public safety depends not simply on taking bad guys off the streets, but on winning — and keeping — the confidence of the people these officers are sworn to serve,” said Attorney General Lynch in a press release.

Nationwide, 73 jurisdictions received grants.