Good.
Mayor Annise Parker
Houston won’t wait for federal funding before buying body cameras for all of the city’s uniformed police officers, Mayor Annise Parker said Wednesday, as activists launched a petition drive for an ordinance essentially mandating the mayor’s plans.
Both the mayor and police chief have announced their commitment to body cameras designed to record all interactions between officers and the public, even though the innovation is expected to cost around $7-million during a severe city budget deficit. Houston plans to apply for some of the federal funding proposed by President Obama earlier in the week, the mayor said, but the city plans to invest in its camera program before Washington’s money flows through the pipeline.
“We are absolutely going to apply, as is every other big police department across the United States, for body cams,” Parker said. “Actually, not every police department will want to go that route, because you have to have the policy in place, you have to have the ability to store the records from the body cams. But we’ve had our pilot up, we know what we want in the cameras. We have a good initial policy that we’re going to roll forward.”
The mayor hopes grants and law enforcement foundations will bankroll about half of the expected expense.
“As the national debate on body cams becomes more robust, I think you’re going to see more interest,” Parker said.
See here for the background. Activists are pushing for an ordinance to require body cameras on the grounds that while the current Mayor and police chief support them, the Mayor we get next year and the chief he or she appoints might not be so supportive. You might think that after the travesty in Staten Island with Eric Garner that body cameras aren’t what they’re hyped up to be, but that isn’t the case. They will do a lot of good, for the public and for the police. Let’s get this done.