WASHINGTON 鈥� A聽showdown is looming in the District聽over the use of police body-worn cameras and the question of whether聽the cameras’ video聽should be made public.
A D.C. Council聽public hearing Thursday will help lawmakers decide on policies for the cameras鈥� use, and whether money聽should be devoted to expand what is now just a pilot program.
Kenyan McDuffie, the chairman of the council’s Judiciary聽Committee, tells 海角精品黑料 he believes the footage should聽be public, saying it’s a matter of transparency and accountability.
McDuffie says he supports the use of body cameras, believing their footage keeps officers accountable and also provides evidence against false complaints of brutality and misconduct. But not making footage public, “undermines the very accountability we seek to achieve.鈥�
Mayor Muriel Bowser鈥檚 budget request includes $5.1 million to outfit the police with body cameras, but also has language that exempts such footage from Freedom of Information Act requests.
McDuffie adds that all FOIA requests for footage during the pilot program have been 鈥渟ummarily denied.鈥�
During D.C.’s聽pilot program, some聽officers wearing the cameras have been disciplined, Police Chief Cathy Lanier tells . But聽no video footage, or聽information about what the videos depict,聽has been made public.
鈥淎ll you have to do is look around the country,鈥� McDuffie tells 海角精品黑料, referring to recent events in Baltimore; Ferguson, Missouri; and New York City, to see that police accountability and community relations are critical issues, and that body cameras can be 鈥渁 tool to [achieve] that.鈥�
McDuffie says that steps such as posting footage with faces blurred out is another possibility, and is looking for other implementation ideas.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I鈥檝e called for this hearing 鈥� I felt we were rushing to implement a very important program.鈥�
The hearing will include testimony from the public, expert witnesses and research McDuffie has compiled. He says he鈥檒l draft his own body-camera budget request, hoping it will replace Bowser鈥檚.
