Body cameras, like the ones shown on police officers in Ferguson, Mo., will likely appear on officers in Cleveland by early next year. (Huy Mach, St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP) Cleveland City Council is expected to pass legislation authorizing the Police Department to spend $1.6 million to equip about 1,000 patrol officers with body cameras.

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 last week 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.

The city tested the body cameras in the spring on 200 officers in the Second and Fourth Police Districts.