Austin Police Department patrol cars will soon get upgraded dashboard cameras that allow eight different triggers to activate video recording, including when an officer opens the car door.

Police Chief Art Acevedo requested the city invest in the new cameras after an officer failed to turn on his dashboard camera, eliminating the use of potentially crucial footage, during the officer-involved shooting death of Nathaniel Sanders in May 2009. The officer was given a 15-day suspension for failing to turn on his camera.

"We've needed to replace them for a long time, but the Sanders incident just highlights how much we needed to replace them," Council Member Sheryl Cole said.

APD had requested the upgrade in previous years, but the shooting death of Sanders made Acevedo's last request more pertinent.

Austin City Council approved a resolution for a new $15.5 million recording system Thursday. The new digital system will be phased in, beginning with the Central East Austin substation in January. APD expects to have all the patrol cars updated by mid-2012.

With the new digital recording system, officers will no longer need to check out a VHS tape to insert in the dashboard recording device to record on-duty occurrences.

"All the officer has to do is get into the vehicle, log into it and go about his business without having to worry too much about the camera system. It's all much more automatic than it used to be," Sr. Officer Ryan Huling said.

The Digital Arbitrator 360, a hands-free, wireless system, is triggered eight different ways, including the opening of the car doors.

The old system only had three triggers, including the activation of lights, sirens and use of the microphone on the radio attached to the officer's uniform. The old system required the officer to manually turn on the camera during traffic stops, sobriety tests and pedestrian stops, when lights or sirens were not already activated.

"The biggest change in the triggers is the door trigger that we now have," Huling said. "Every time the officer opens the front driver’s door, it is going to automatically activate a recording. So if I am on a family disturbance call for service, I open the door, it is going to automatically start. I don't have to manually hit the record button."

The new system also uploads video to a server using Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the city.

Other triggers activate the camera if the officer passes a certain speed, gets in a wreck or turns on the lights. Once the camera is triggered, it records whatever happened 30 seconds prior to the trigger.

The cameras also record at a wider angle, and shoot from two angles, providing video footage of the front of the vehicle and of the backseat.

Council member Cole said the cameras are more than just a technical improvement, but also an important part of healing racial tension between minorities and APD.

"This is a step in a long ladder, but it is a positive step," Cole said.

The Austin Police Association and the NAACP both support the vote for new cameras.

Cole said she hopes fewer chances for officer-error with the cameras could mean fewer questions about officer-error, period.