Back in March, Daytona Beach Police officers were called to a home on Grandview Avenue for a domestic violence call.

One of the officers had a newer piece of gear on him: a camera hooked to his eye protection.

That camera was rolling as he walked up to the apartment and looked inside to see what was going on before officers burst through the door. They surprised the suspect, who was caught on video with his hands around his girlfriend's neck.

These body cameras are proving to be another key tool on a police officer's belt. They provide much more than the dash cams we're accustomed to seeing.

Jimmie Flynt, a spokesman with the Daytona Beach Police Department, said these cameras are highly mobile. 

“It's on the officer. Where he goes, the camera goes and it documents real-time information,” Flynt said.

Right now there are 22 cameras in the department. Earlier this year, Police Chief Mike Chitwood got the go-ahead from the city commission to more than double that, so that there will soon be 50 body cameras.

These body cameras show a lot of what the police officer sees, but Officer Donald Rininger, the training officer for the department, warns they don't show everything that an officer encounters on a call.

Out on the streets, some wonder just how often the cameras will be used, while others like the idea.

Thomas Burbank said cameras are already everywhere you go.

"Well, so they got backup in case something goes wrong," Burbank said. "You've got the evidence, you've got proof. You know?”

And that evidence goes two ways, according to Flynt. 

“It protects the public. It also protects the officers," Flynt said, "Because if the officer does something wrong, it's there on the camera. If the officer didn't do anything wrong, it's there on camera. It's not where you would come up with a he said/she said type of incident.”

Police said there is no way for the officer to access the video once it's recorded.

The cost of the 50 camera systems comes to more than $157,000. Flynt said he wouldn't be surprised if the department didn't try to add even more cameras over the next few years.