The Tampa City Council has unanimously approved a nearly $1 million funding request for the police department to buy 650 body cameras.
The department currently has 60 body cameras and said it was hoping to expand its inventory before the coronavirus pandemic hit. The original plan was to buy 650 tasers and 650 body cameras, according to the department.
When costs had to be cut because of the pandemic, the body cameras were taken off the proposal. The new tasers were bought for $2.2 million.
City Council members approved the roughly $950,000 plan Thursday morning to buy the cameras. The funds are coming from the city refinancing some bond obligations.
"Having a body camera should be like wearing a seat belt when you're in the car. It's for everybody's safety," Councilman Guido Maniscalco said.
The department has been hoping to add more body cameras since at least June 2019 when it applied for a $600,000 federal grant.
The body cameras the department was seeking last year cost a little less than $1,000, but the recurring costs associated with data storage fees can be much higher.
More than a dozen people attended the Thursday council meeting to comment on local protests and the police’s relationship with the community.
The city has seen days of mostly peaceful protests following the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. However, some of those protests turned violent, and several businesses were looted and a gas station was lit on fire.
On Tuesday night, more than 60 people were arrested in Tampa after the department said some crowds began throwing bricks, rocks and bottles at officers.
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