Los Angeles Mayor Pushes to Approve $31M Contract for LAPD Body Cameras
The City Council last year put the contract on hold after additional costs to operate the body camera program was questioned by some members.
A proposed cost-benefit study could potentially derail Los Angeles Mayor Richard Garcetti's initiative to outfit all LAPD officers with body cameras by next fall.
LOS ANGELES – Mayor Eric Garcetti called on the Los Angeles City Council this week to move ahead with an existing $31 million contract negotiated with Taser to fulfill his initiative to equip all of the city’s police officers with body cameras.
The City Council last year put the contract on hold, after some members questioned the additional costs for more than 120 employees who would be hired to operate the body camera program, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
With these and other additional costs, the contract, which also includes the purchase of about 4,400 stun guns, is expected to cost the department a total of $57 million over its five-year term.
The issue was expected to return early this year, after members of the council had a chance to “vet and scrutinize” the contract. However, a proposal by Councilman Mitch Englander to consider cost-benefit studies and potentially restarting the bidding process has prompted Garcetti to make an appeal for the existing contract to move forward, according to the newspaper.
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Garcetti and police department officials had been aiming to outfit all officers with body cameras by next fall.
“I think the people of Los Angeles deserve these cameras and delaying deployment for years potentially for no good reason, I think, is irresponsible,” Garcetti said during a phone news conference with reporters Tuesday.
Garcetti said a typical bid process could take another 12 months.
Garcetti said he has the option to veto any plan to delay the purchase of the cameras, but added that he has had “good conversations” with council members and believes that once they learn more about the process, many, if not all, would be supportive of the contract.
Englander, who is expected to formally introduce his proposal this week, said Tuesday that if restarting the bidding process is necessary, then “so be it,” but he also said he hopes it will not come to that.
Englander said his proposal would not be the cause of the delay, and that it was already stalled, and that his proposal would actually kickstart the process.
Englander said that if there are any questions, the reports he is planning to request would “spell all that out” and hopefully dispel any “apprehension” about the matter.
“Things aren’t moving now, and the point is, it’s been months, it’s been sitting there and nothing’s been happening, and people are questioning the price tag,” Englander said.
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