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damnedifIknow

(3,183 posts)
Tue Dec 2, 2014, 10:29 AM Dec 2014

Body cameras for cops could be the biggest change to come out of the Ferguson protests [View all]

"Within the next five years or so, body-worn cameras will be as ubiquitous in the world of policing as handcuffs, the police radio, the gun," said Jim Buerrmann, president of the Police Foundation in Washington and a former chief of police in Redlands, Calif.

Buerrmann argues when police wear cameras, they're less likely to use force, and that members of the community place greater trust in police."

*Available evidence suggests that cameras do change interactions between police and the public. When the police department in Rialto, Calif. conducted a trial, assigning cameras to half its 54 officers at random, the use of force declined by 60 percent"

*Buerrmann sees the administration's proposal as a start, but that cameras won't immediately solve the problems of police departments that have lost the trust of their communities.

"The problems go much deeper than technology, but this is the first thing that needs to be done to move forward," he said.

Whether Obama's proposal has a chance on the Hill remains to be seen, but there is some support among lawmakers for encouraging police to wear body cameras. After Brown's death, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) proposed making cameras mandatory for any police agency receiving federal funds."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/12/02/body-cameras-for-cops-could-be-the-biggest-change-to-come-out-of-the-ferguson-protests/

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