IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – One of the first Iowa police departments to outfit officers with body-worn cameras has repeatedly had to pay for repairs, highlighting one ongoing cost of the increasingly popular devices.
Records obtained by The Associated Press show the University of Iowa Department of Public Safety has shipped dozens of cameras to their manufacturer for replacement and repair since buying them in 2011.

The department has paid 26 times to repair cameras at a total cost of nearly $5,000, about half of which was incurred last year. Each repair costs $193. That’s nearly the price of some new cameras, which have dropped in cost. Interim department director Dave Visin says the most common problem comes when officers plug cameras into computers to download videos the wrong way and damage the USB port.