Two Los Angeles Police Department officers involved in the shooting of a homeless man on Sunday were wearing body cameras, but Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said he won't release that video for the time being, as the investigation is ongoing.

A video taken Anthony Blackburn, who witnessed the shooting, shows a group of police officers fighting with two people, a man and a woman, near tents on Skid Row in Los Angeles, an area with a high homeless population. In the video, several officers arrest the woman after picking up a baton and push the man to the sidewalk; one officer tells the man twice to "drop the gun" before at least five shots are heard. The man is left dead.

See also: LAPD tells its version of fatal shooting of homeless man

Beck said the body camera footage will be "crucial in determining the propriety of the officer’s actions." Groups such as the ACLU in Los Angeles have asked the LAPD to release the footage, as they feel it will help relieve strife between the police and members of the community, particularly the homeless.

In a report published last year, the Department of Justice seemed to come out in favor of body cameras. The report advocated for for transparency, stating camera policies should be posted on police department websites. It also implored police departments to increase trust in their communities by "publicly releasing video recordings of controversial incidents."

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a plan in December to equip every LAPD officer with a body camera by the end of the fiscal year in 2016. A select few LAPD officers have been testing different body camera models for months already, and once they are implemented department-wide, officers will be required to turn them on during all interactions with members of the public.

Also in December, President Barack Obama proposed a $263 million funding plan to improve police training across the country, $75 million of which would go toward purchasing 50,000 body cameras.