They recently created uniforms for the Seattle Police department here. Its nebulous what they hope to accomplish with the added surveillance and personally it freaks me out.
I'm not saying were an Orwellian police state but at least we are headed that way.
My impression is that most people want the police to wear cameras so they have something more objective than the officer's verbal assertion when disputes arise - where they've been deployed, such cameras seem to lead to a reduction in complaints because officers know their behavior is being recorded.
It's two sided -- officers behave better because they're on camera, and people make up fewer false accusations because they know they were on camera.
My city (Denver) passed a law mandating body cameras for police during the last election. It'll probably be a year or two before we get data on how well it's worked.
One concern I have about cameras is if the police get the opportunity to review the footage before testifying, and others don't. I think that would be a significant shift of power toward the police, though it may still curtail some of the most extreme abuses.
I'm not saying were an Orwellian police state but at least we are headed that way.