With cases of police brutality, including young black men being shot down in the street by police officers, President Barack Obama is requesting a three-year, $263 million federal spending package for authority figures.
The president made the request to Congress Dec. 1, asking that $75 million be used for to put body cameras on 50,000 more police officers. Thebody cameras will not only provide an extra layer of protection for both parties by recording police interactions with citizens in the communities they protect, but also build trust within minority communities, Obama said. According to news reports, Obama made the announcement during meetings with his cabinet, civil rights leaders, law enforcement officials and others.
During the announcement, he also said that the body camera initiative has a good likelihood of succeeding because he is invested in it.
Obama also ordered a review of federal programs that fund military gear for local police after faultfinders questioned why police in full body armor with armored trucks responded to dismiss protestors.
“There is a big difference between our military and our local law enforcement and we don’t want those lines blurred,” Obama said.
He plans to sign an executive order to create a Task Force on 21st Century Policing, which will include law enforcement and community leaders. The purpose would be to examine how to reduce crime while maintaining public trust through measures like increased police training. The task force is being co-chaired by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey and Laurie Robinson, a professor at George Mason University and former assistant attorney general at the Justice Department.
According to White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, “The president and his administration are very focused on the underlying issues that have been uncovered in a pretty raw way in Ferguson, ”
However, body cameras are only part of the puzzle to correct the violations so many across the country and the world feel toward the police.
“I think it is a very good first step,” Rev. Jamal H. Bryant, pastor of Empowerment Temple in Baltimore told the AFRO Dec. 2. “I don’t think it is a holistic remedy, because the grand jury can’t wear body cameras.”
He said he thinks the whole criminal justice system needs to be reevaluated, including disproportionate sentencing, racial profiling, and excessive force.
According to Bryant, there are still unanswered questions that civil rights activists, politicians and others are asking, such as where and for how long will data be held? Will the tapes be video and audio? What angle will the cameras show? He gave an example of the 12-year-old shot and killed by police in Cleveland, Ohio that was filmed. “I think we’re going into unchartered territory,” Bryant said.
Body cameras on officers are not an innovative thought. Authorities in several municipalities around the country, including New York, California and the District, have been using body cameras. According to the AFRO, District police began participating in a body camera pilot program on Oct. 1.
“Our Metropolitan Police Department has been a leader in using technology to aid policing and public safety, and I want to commend Chief Lanier and the department for implementing this program, which has been in the works for more than a year,” D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray said at a press conference in September. “Especially since the unfortunate incidents in Ferguson, Mo. have brought the issue of body cameras to national attention. I’m proud that MPD will continue to show leadership in this area.”
In Baltimore, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake vetoed a city council bill requiring all Baltimore police officers to wear body cameras. Her reasons were not that she doesn’t want police to wear cameras but of other concerns with the legislation, the AFRO reported.
Among those concerns are the collection and retention of data, which includes determining whether the city will create its own IT infrastructure for storing and documenting the data or use a private, cloud-based solution; determining how and when videos are attached to incident reports; when officers are allowed to review the video with respect to writing reports or making statements about a particular incident; how long data should be stored; and an accurate estimate of costs to ensure the sustainability of any program implemented.
“We will have body cameras in Baltimore. I just want people to be very very clear,” Blake told the AFRO. She laid out a number of the policy concerns in a city work group she convened last month. She is currently investigating this policy in order to make formal recommendations in early 2015.
Washington Editor LaTrina Antoine and AFRO writers Linda Poulson and Roberto Alejandro contributed to this article.