A $58-million plan to equip nearly every Los Angeles police officer with a body camera by the end of 2016 is being postponed due to cost.
The department doesn't expect to receive the remaining 7,000 body cameras until fall 2017, if not later, KABC TV reports.
However, Mayor Eric Garcetti says that's unacceptable and wants to outfit LAPD officers with cameras as soon as possible. City Councilman Mitch Englander says he plans to submit a formal proposal to the city council this week encouraging the LAPD to start the bidding process over.
Steve Soboroff, the Board of Police commissioner and a longtime advocate of the cameras, said city lawmakers are “horribly underestimating the ramifications” of delaying the program for what could be years.
"This is an unequivocal disaster for public safety in Los Angeles," Soboroff told the Associated Press.
City Hall has been scrutinizing the camera plan over the costs, with one council member saying he was experiencing "sticker shock" over the price tag of $57.6 million over five years.