More cops required to wear body cameras across nation
More police departments across the country are requiring members of their force to wear body cameras.
In the last few weeks, agencies in at least a dozen cities, including Ferguson, where 18-year-old Mike Brown was fatally wounded by a police officer on Aug. 9, have said they are equipping officers with video cameras.
Miami Beach approved the purchase of $3 million worth of cameras for police officers, parking enforcement workers, and building and fire inspectors.
The New York Police Department, the nation’s largest urban force, has studied how Los Angeles is incorporating body cameras and is planning its own pilot project. A law in New Jersey, signed this month, requires all municipal police departments to buy car-mounted or body cameras, and creates a new fine on drunken drivers to help pay for it. And the United States Border Patrol, with more than 21,000 agents, recently said it would start testing cameras this year.
The cameras come at a time when citizens are constantly accusing police officers of unfair treatment such as racial profiling. Officials and advocates of the body cameras hope they will provide more clarity as to what happens during confrontations with police and civilians.
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Is this the right direction in terms of holding officers accountable and reducing incidents of mistreatment?
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