Metro Transit Police will begin wearing body cameras in the coming weeks, the department announced Friday.

The cameras will be front-facing, and have internal storage for both audio and video footage. Officers will be able to start recording at any time, although they will have to inform individuals that they are being recorded before they begin.

The use of the body cameras will begin with the department’s Special Response Team and Tactical Operations Unit, which together have approximately two dozen members, around the end of March and beginning of April.

After that, the equipment will be phased in, with 315 Metro Transit Police Department officers training to use and wearing the cameras by the end of the summer. These officer-mounted cameras will augment the more than 20,000 stationary cameras throughout the Metro system.

The cameras will not be worn by all department members, instead being donned only by public-facing officers of lieutenant rank and lower.

The program, which was given a $900,000 federal grant to start, is projected to cost $7 million over the next five years, including hiring new support staff for the camera program.

“Transparency is a top value for MTPD, and we are committed to every person’s safety,” MTPD Chief Michael Anzallo said in a statement.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.