Congress to weigh request for police body cameras, training

Congress will need to approve $263 million in funding for 50,000 body cameras and training for law enforcement agencies across the country, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday. 

President Obama’s request is not considered emergency funding, but it expands the president’s budget request for fiscal 2015, an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) official said.

Obama is expected to announce the funding request on Monday, which will need to be matched by state and local police.

{mosads}An aide to the House Appropriations Committee suggested the panel had not yet received the formal request and couldn’t provide any details. 

The funding is part of the Community Policing Initiative and the new proposals would expand programs for fiscal 2015, 2016 and 2017 as part of a three-year plan, the OMB official said.

The White House estimates the part that would fund body cameras would cost $75 million. The remaining money would be used for training police and to foster better trust between law enforcement and their communities.

House appropriators are expected to release a 12-bill omnibus spending package next week that would last through next September.

Congress must pass a new spending measure by Friday, Dec. 12, or the government could shut down.

On Monday afternoon, the White House released a review of the way protests were handled in Ferguson, Mo., after police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot unarmed teenager Michael Brown in August.