Via MSNBC today:
Two major U.S. cities announced Thursday that they are moving forward with efforts to arm police with body cameras, to improve accountability and transparency.
The announcements come on the heels of the death of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old, unarmed black man, who was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.
Protests and violent clashes with police ensued as community outrage heightened when eyewitness accounts of Brown’s death emerged, conflicting with the narrative offered by the authorities. A grand jury is currently hearing evidence in the case against Wilson and will decide whether or not to charge him with a felony.
Meanwhile, Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill is
taking the lead role on equipping America's police forces with new body cam technology
in wake of Ferguson:
Ferguson, Missouri police are being trained to use and wear body cameras, CBS affiliate KMOV reports.
The training comes amid increased attention on police use of force in the wake of the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Following that shooting, local police in Ferguson donned riot gear and fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who refused to disperse and, at times, broke into nearby businesses.
Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said body cameras would have made a difference in the investigation of Brown's shooting.
KMOV reports that the battery-operated cameras clip to the top of the officers uniform shirt, and can record both audio and video. In total, the department will have 55 body cameras, enough for each officer in Ferguson, the station reported.
In the wake of Brown's controversial shooting, calls are growing for police officers to wear body cameras to help clarify how certain incidents unfold.
"It seems to me that before we give federal funds to police departments, we ought to mandate that they have body cams," Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, said Monday, the Springfield News-Leader reports. "I think that [body cams] would go a long way toward solving some of these problems, and it would be a great legacy over this tragedy that's occurred in Ferguson."
Claire, President Obama, and the City of Ferguson should be thanked for moving forward on police body cam technology. I like police body cams because it keeps a check on police behavior while at the same time not impeding the police from doing the public service we all pay them to do.