In a reversal of their position, Pittsburgh's top police officials will allow patrol officers to wear video cameras, even though it's illegal to record inside someone's home.

The police bureau is expanding its use of body cameras, Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler told the Tribune-Review, now that it received a $250,000 grant from the Department of Justice to buy 200 of the devices, supplementing the 35 that motorcycle and bicycle officers use.

Officials have not said when the cameras will be deployed. Eventually, however, they will be worn by officers who respond to domestic violence calls, reports of gunfire and emergencies.

Patrol officers were to begin wearing body cameras in February, but Chief Cameron McLay halted his plan because of unresolved privacy concerns.

Police spokeswoman Emily Shaffer said officers will take care not to run afoul of privacy laws.

“Officers know not to have them on in situations where their use is restricted,” Schaffer said. “It's also something that will be reinforced and emphasized in training and throughout the deployment.”

Interest in the technology soared because of a series of fatal encounters between police and unarmed citizens, beginning last year with the shooting death of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo.

“Body cams are not a panacea,” said John Rago, a Duquesne University law professor who studies police practices. “However, it's a highly valuable technology. It promotes the safety of the officers and the people they interact with. It's objective evidence of a police and citizen interaction.”

Few in Pennsylvania are using the technology because the state's wiretap law prevents police from recording in a home without permission. Bicycle and motorcycle officers in Pittsburgh began wearing the devices in the fall.

“You don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy when you're out in the streets or you're walking on the sidewalks,” Rago said. “So there are no deployment issues with respect to bicycle police.”

But officers who burst into a home while their camera is running are breaking the law, he said.

Port Authority of Allegheny County is looking into equipping some of its transit police with body cameras, spokesman Adam Brandolph said.

Pennsylvania State Police are considering whether to get them. There is no timeline for a decision, spokeswoman Maria Finn said.

Vic Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, said the organization is “big supporters” of body cameras.

“When folks are on ‘Candid Camera,' everybody seems to behave a little bit better,” he said. “It's good both for the police, and it's good for the civilians. ... Frankly, if you're going inside a house, you could just have a protocol that says, ‘Turn it off.' ”

Allentown will get $249,901 from the Justice Department to buy body cameras. Philadelphia began outfitting police with cameras in January, and officers with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority have tested the devices since July 2014.

State wildlife agents will wear the devices as they patrol state lands for hunting and trapping violations.

“We still haven't established a go-live date yet,” said Jason DeCoskey, enforcement division chief for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which bought more than 200 body cameras this year. “We're working through some computer software glitches, server issues and stuff like that.”

In Allegheny County, officials in Springdale are trying to sell their supply of six body cameras, which the borough has had for two years but never used because of wiretap restrictions.

Lawmakers have not moved on legislation that would allow police to record when called to a home. The state budget stalemate has disrupted the legislative schedule.

“Of course, we're anxious for Harrisburg to get on with it,” Rago said. “But these things take time.”

Tony Raap is a Trib Total Media staff writer. Reach him at 412-320-7827 or traap@tribweb.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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