Many of us remember Jimmy Wilson Jr.'s murder nearly 17 years ago. It led to cruiser cameras citywide, but they have virtually disappeared.

Tuesday the city council approved spending nearly $1.2 million to equip cruisers with cameras again.

The primary unit of the cameras will be located in the cruiser's trunk, with one connecting cord, running to the front of the vehicle, where the camera will be watching. If that cord is disconnected, it will transmit a signal saying it's offline, which will eliminate any human tampering, helping police better serve and protect.

John Williams says he endured a horrific beating on the night of October 5, all at the hands of police officers. "I fractured my elbow, got bruises, I probably still have some scars you can see on my face," he said.

He claims he was merely sitting in his car, innocent.

Police say he resisted arrest and obstructed an officer. What is agreed, a cruiser camera could resolve any doubt, had one been rolling that night.

"We need the videos, we need the tapes in the cars, we need the cameras in the car, clearly if we had the tapes in the car,what happened that day, I wouldn't have even gone this far," said Williams.

Williams was in court Tuesday to plead "no contest" to the charges against him, he then went before the city council, along with his wife and other supporters. "I think in every profession there has to be accountability, I think the cameras will provide that integrity and keep the officers to the best of their professionalism that's needed," said Carrie Williams.

Police whole-heartedly agree. "Our ultimate goal is to protect the officers and the citizens, and to make sure we're always acting in a professional manner," said Chief Deputy Libby Davis.

"The majority of times, those cameras are going to exonerate an officer from things that people are accusing them of doing," said Chief Alex Hayes. "Secondarily for us, it adds credibility to our comments, that we are always constantly saying, we want to be transparent as an agency and this will help us do that."

The council unanimously approved the purchase. Now the cameras will be ordered and installation will begin immediately.

The funding covers 130 cameras. There are currently 125 front line cruisers. Another interesting feature, the new cameras will be able to download video to a main server when the cruiser simply comes close to access points.

Police hope to have all the cameras installed and working within a few months.