NATCHEZ — Local law enforcement are looking to get more eyes on the streets of Natchez.

The Natchez Police Department is applying for a grant that will allow the department to purchase body-worn cameras.

President Barack Obama announced $263 million in funding last year for law enforcement agencies to have body-warn cameras, which Natchez Police Chief Danny White said would be beneficial for the city and the police department.

White said he believes the body-worn cameras will allow interactions between officers and citizens to be more properly documented.

“It’s better for the officers and the citizens,” White said.

The White House said the funding could purchase 50,000 body-worn cameras, which will need to be matched by state and local police.

The federal government will provide 50 percent of the funding, and local governments will have to provide the remainder.

“We are not going to get them any other way,” said NPD Captain Tom McGehee. “It will be a matching grant of some kind. Our (Board of Aldermen) have to say we are willing to pay 25 or 50 percent to get these guys cameras and pay for it up front, then the government will pay us back.”

The announcement of the funding came after a grand jury declined to indict white police officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown, the unarmed, black 18-year old whose fatal shooting sparked weeks of sometimes violent protests and inflamed deep racial tensions.

Although the events of Ferguson did not occur in Natchez, White said the body-worn cameras could be significant for the NPD.

“We haven’t had a problem like that in our department, not to say we won’t,” White said. “But If people say the police did this or that, the camera will be able to see it. It’s just another tool.”

McGehee said the NPD is currently working on completing the grant application to purchase the body-worn cameras.

The application would then go before the Board of Aldermen for approval before heading to the federal government for final approval.

Once the government approves the grant, McGehee said, the NPD can buy the body-worn cameras then apply for reimbursement through congress.