Four Los Angeles city lawmakers are voicing alarm over the plan to outfit police officers with body-worn video cameras, saying they’re taken aback by the number of people who may be needed to staff the initiative.
In a memo to the City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee, city policy analysts said the Los Angeles Police Department may request an additional 122 positions next year, all but four of them sworn, to work in the department’s growing camera operation, the Los Angeles Times reported. Those employees would assist the LAPD as it works to assign 7,000 body cameras to officers by the end of next year.
Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who represents the west San Fernando Valley, said he experienced “sticker shock” after reading the memo, The Times reported, and Councilman Mike Bonin warned he would need to hear from Police Chief Charlie Beck before casting a final vote later this week on a proposed contract to purchase thousands of body cameras.
“It’s too big a leap for me to make without knowing a little bit more on how the chief intends to do this,” Bonin said. Councilmen Paul Koretz and Paul Krekorian expressed similar concerns.
The council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a $31.2-million agreement with Taser International to purchase 6,140 body cameras — plus replacements, upgrades and video storage — and 4,400 Tasers. The entire body camera initiative is expected to cost $57.6 million over five years, including support staff and the purchase of cellphones to support the devices, The Times reported.
LAPD officials said the additional officers will be needed for such tasks as training and poring over footage of use-of-force incidents, officer- involved shootings and police pursuits.
In an interview, Beck told The Times it would be “imprudent and irresponsible” to collect the body camera video and not review evidence that could be used in criminal cases or internal investigations. The LAPD, he added, should serve as an example to the rest of the country on police accountability.
