Los Angeles is considering a plan to replace its e-mail and records retention systems with hosted products from Google, according to a story The Los Angeles Times published Friday.

The proposal reportedly has the support of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, but L.A. Police Department officials have expressed concern that turning over potentially sensitive data to a private company could be a security issue.

Many experts on the topic of cloud computing -- typically defined as Web-based servers and storage -- cite security fears as a major roadblock to the widespread adoption of the emerging technology. Some observers say cloud computing saves money and speeds up implementations.

L.A.'s proposed contract with Google is for five years and more than $7 million, the newspaper reports. It would need approval from a City Council subcommittee and the mayor.

L.A. certainly wouldn't be the first big municipal government to switch over to Google Apps. Federal CIO Vivek Kundra deployed the hosted solution, which includes e-mail, for Washington, D.C.'s IT department when he was the district's chief technology officer.