Arming police officers with body cameras to record their actions is one such solution.
The Obama administration will designate $75 million to pay half the cost of 50,000 officer mounted cameras nationwide. It’s part of a $363 million package stemming from an executive order to improve training for local law enforcement agencies that receive equipment through federal grant programs.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has decided to take an extra step. The department plans to buy 7,000 on-body cameras for Los Angeles Police Department officers, two weeks after the Obama administration announced the initiative.
"The trust between a community and its police department can be eroded in a single moment," Garcetti told the Los Angeles Times. "Trust is built on transparency."
— Kate Mather (@katemather) December 16, 2014
Supporters say body cameras are a long awaited reform. Video can help eliminate bias or uncertainty during acts of misconduct. The cameras are not expected to be recording all the time, though, such as when an officer interviews a victim of sexual abuse. Rather, the cameras will be used when someone is in custody.
A successful example of the use of body cameras as a measure to “police the police” was enforced through a pilot program in Rialto, California. In the first year the cameras were introduced, the number of complaints against officers fell by 88%. The use of police force also fell by 60%.
While a body camera may seem like a logical step, critics believe it made little difference in Eric Garner’s case. A passerby, Ramsey Orta, used a cellphone to video record the violent confrontation when an officer used what appeared to be a chokehold on Garner.
— Caliph (@kingofthe352) December 18, 2014
One of the officer’s pushed down on Garner’s face, while the other officers tried to hold him down, according to what is recorded on the video. Garner kept on repeating: “I can’t breathe.”
Opponents also argue that the body cameras are just another added intrusion of privacy. Some even worry that a video of a police officer searching a home might get broadcast on the evening news.
William J. Bratton who has been head of the police department in Los Angeles and New York City told the New York Times that he would have wanted cameras on his officers.
“So much of what goes on in the field is ‘he-said-she-said,’ and the camera offers an objective perspective,” Mr. Bratton told the New York Times. “Officers not familiar with the technology may see it as something harmful. But the irony is, officers actually tend to benefit. Very often, the officer’s version of events is the accurate version.”
Plans to implement body cameras are gathering steam across several major cities including Chicago, New York, Minneapolis and Washington D.C.
