A top New York City official on Thursday demonstrated a body camera by wearing it, while pressing for a police pilot program. 

"Since announcing the proposal to equip police officers throughout New York City with body cameras, I have been asked about what cameras on the market are capable of. We saw that many of the concerns about size, weight and functionality have already been addressed by the companies producing this technology," Public Advocate Letitia James said.

"We are living in an increasingly technological world, and we should take measures to incorporate video cameras in policing to improve public safety. We must continue to improve the relationship between the NYPD and our communities, beginning with a system that promotes more transparency and responsibility."

The cameras, averaging three ounces in weight, are made by VieVu and Digital Ally. They can record eight hours of audio and video on one charge and have a memory capacity of 54 hours. Each camera can be given a unique ID tied to a specific police officer, and video can be downloaded to a server at the precinct or in cloud storage.

The pilot program was proposed by James earlier this month following the death of Eric Garner from a police chokehold. That incident was captured on a bystander's cellphone video. 

The pilot program would outfit police officers with body-worn cameras to record civilian stops and is recommended for 15 percent of precincts with the highest rates of crime and complaints of misconduct. The pilot is estimated to cost $5 million dollars, with cameras selling for $450 to $900 each.

James said the camera could curb police brutality allegations and save the city millions of dollars in legal costs. Last year alone, the city paid out $152 million in judgments because of police misconduct. In a report issued by former Comptroller John Liu in 2012, there were 9,750 tort claims against the NYPD, and payments have increased by 52 percent in the past five years.  

The money, James said, could be better spent on many other social programs.

Other cities with police body worn cameras programs are New Orleans; San Diego, Oakland and Rialto in California; Spokane, Washington; and Chesapeake, Virginia. According to James' policy report, a study conducted with the Rialto Police Department found complaints dropped by 88 percent and use of force dropped by 59 percent when cameras were instituted. Pilot programs are underway in Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Requiring police to wear body cameras was first recommended in the federal court case Floyd v. New York City over the NYPD's use of Stop, Question and Frisk; Judge Shira Scheindlin making it one of her recommendations. The case found that the NYPD did unfairly target blacks and Latinos. Those recommendations are on hold as a final ruling in the case is still pending because several parties are seeking to intervene, and an appeal is in place.

Calls to the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, the police union, for comment about the proposed police body camera pilot program were not immediately returned.

In a statement from 2013 when the idea was first floated, President Pat Lynch said, "Our members are already weighed down with equipment like escape hoods, mace, flashlights, memo books, asps, radio, handcuffs and the like. Additional equipment becomes an encumbrance and a safety issue for those carrying it. Given that the root cause of this stop and frisk problem is a significant shortage of police officers in local precincts, it seems to us that the monies spent on a bodycam pilot program would be better spent on hiring more police officers and providing them with extensive field training with an experienced officer."

James said the pilot program could be enacted by the de Blasio Administration and NYPD without requiring legislation and could be in place by the start of 2015.