Cleveland Police Eyeing Body Cameras For 2015

Police in the city of Cleveland may start wearing body cameras in 2015.

The city council has been exploring the technology and the expenses associated with it. Cleveland would be the largest city in the country to use the technology, according to Cleveland.com.

Council is considering legislation authorizing the administration to spend $1.6 million to buy the cameras for about 1,000 front-line officers.

Some council members have been calling for the cameras for years, arguing that the footage would aid criminal investigations and clear up controversy surrounding police shootings and accusations of misconduct. Council authorized the city a year ago to spend as much as $2.4 million on a combination of body and dashboard-mounted cameras.

But Safety Director Michael McGrath said Wednesday that he eventually decided on body cameras only. They’re less expensive, he said, and although they can be mounted to a dashboard if necessary, their vantage point is not limited to the view from the patrol car.