US Revisits the Idea of Equipping Police Officers with Cameras

The Ferguson tragedy, where an altercation between a white policeman and a black teen ended, on August 9, with the shooting death of the latter – in addition to the decision of a grand jury in St. Louis County, Missouri, on November 24, not to prosecute the killer, who testified that he acted in self-defense – have prompted the White House to consider whether cameras should be worn by police.

According to their supporters, video recordings could have a virtuous effect on police behavior, as well as provide justice officials with information that allows them to make informed decisions in situations where they are confronted with conflicting theories. On Dec. 1, Barack Obama announced a program of $263 million for this purpose during a meeting held at the White House to discuss lessons learned from the riots that accompanied the announcement of the grand jury’s decision in Ferguson. The announcement took place shortly before another dismissal issued on Wednesday by another grand jury, this time in Staten Island, which raised a new wave of indignation.

Camera usage already exists in some U.S. cities. In Maryland, the Baltimore City Council passed a bill providing for 3,000 municipal police to be equipped with cameras after a series of incidents pitting police against African Americans. Nevertheless, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a black woman, indicated that she would veto any decision that she judged to be rushed.

Changing Police Behavior

Presented as a panacea, the use of cameras has nevertheless been criticized by John Eck, a criminologist at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, a city where an ambitious program designed to modify police behavior was used in 2001 in the wake of tragedies similar to those in Ferguson. “In the vast majority of cases, the relationship between the police and the population for which they are responsible is devoid of violence, but sometimes can touch on the intimate,” he explains, describing “domestic disputes, the panic of a girl searching for a father suffering from senility, an alcoholic. There is a risk that these recordings could fall into the public domain. Am I going to call the police if I know that the scene will be recorded?”

“I also doubt that the recordings could shed light in all circumstances,” John Eck continues, “and their use could always be turned by police to their advantage. The use of cameras,” he concludes, “risks becoming an excuse for not reconsidering some police practices that lead to situations ending in tragedy.”*

The recording of the fatal interaction in Staten Island, made by a witness, did not produce the result hoped for by the victim’s family.

*Editor’s Note: While accurately translated, these quotes were unable to be sourced.