But Roorda warned that ordering the cameras before negotiating with the union “would be problematic.”

Roorda said city officers didn’t have helmets when they had bricks and bottles thrown at their heads while they were in Ferguson. He questioned how the city would suddenly have money for cameras.

The aldermen appeared largely supportive of purchasing cameras, but they haven’t set a date where they will formally consider funding them.

“This does appear to be the wave of the future,” said 28th Ward Alderman Lyda Krewson, who represents the Central West End neighborhood.

The cameras, which constantly record video, can be worn around an officer’s neck or attached to sunglasses. The officers plug the cameras in to download the recordings at the end of their shifts. The video is kept on a data server.

Several area departments, including Ellisville and St. Louis County, have turned to the cameras since the fatal shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson.