Washington D.C. City Council Votes to Equip Police Officers With Body Cams

After more than eight months of deliberations, the Washington D.C. City Council has voted to equip the city’s 2,800 police officers with body cameras, reports the Huffington Post.

Additionally, the new measures would allow public access to the recorded footage—something that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has vehemently opposed.

However, police chief Cathy Lanier told a local news station last week that she was pleased that the proposal passed.

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“To say that we started this process of trying to get body cameras long before any other city in the United States and we still don’t have them, for me, is frustrating,” she said. “But hopefully, things are now on the right track and moving, and hopefully, we’ll be rolling those in the next group of cameras and rolling them out through 2016.

Currently, approximately 400 officers are already equipped with a beta round of cameras. The council will cast a final vote, which is expected to pass, on December 15.