Skip to main content
Global Edition
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Former officer: KCPD body cam rollout should involve community

Credit: 41 Action News
Duration: 02:42s 0 shares 1 views

Former officer: KCPD body cam rollout should involve community
Former officer: KCPD body cam rollout should involve community

The Kansas City Police Department finally got the funding for body cameras, but a detailed rollout process will come next.

REACHED FOR THOSEDEMANDING MOREACCOUNTABILITY ANDTRANSPARENCY.41 ACTION NEWSREPORTER SARAH PLAKEIS LIVE - AT THE PLAZA.SARAH - THIS IS OUR 7THNIGHT OFDEMONSTRATIONSCALLING FOR MORECHANGE.WHAT ARE YOU SEEING..The DeBruce Foundationdonated 2.5 million dollars tothe Kansas City policedepartment to buy bodycameras..

This coming aftermuch outcry --Justice Horn / ActivistI frankly believe that if youdon't have anything to hide,then you shouldn't worry aboutthe body cams in regard toprivacy.-- But the department is stillworking out how manycameras they'll get..

Who willprovide them..

What type..

Andhow to roll out the process.John Hamilton / Criminal JusticeProfessor and former KCPDofficerWhat you'll be looking for isone that has good clearresolution, picture as possible,good sound, you'll be lookingat reliability as well..John Hamilton, associateprofessor of criminal justice atPark University and former KCpolice officer, says thesuccess will depend onexpectations.He thinks there should be acommunity group workingtogether with the police duringthe roll-out so there aren'tquestions when somethinggoes wrong.Both sides can learn aboutthese at the same time.

Thepolice will be wondering aboutoperation and how they work..the community can look andsee, what kinds of picturescan you get?

What will it pickup, what won't it pick up?Hamilton and Mayor QuintonLucas acknowledge this won'teliminate police brutality.We see in fact that's whatprotests largely aroundAmerica are about right now,that visual images aloneperhaps don't change policing,haven't changed all thesituations of misconduct.

Werecognize it is a tool but onethat is important.Brad Lemon, FOP president,says they welcome the bodycams.There's been a lot of nationalstudies by the FOP and otherplaces that show that 98% ofcomplaints against policeofficers are thrown out as aresult of the body cam.So i don't want this to beseen as a babysitter.

If that'swhat this is going to be usedfor, then there are deeperissues involved.The police department stillneeds funding for training,data maintenance, and tokeep the body cam programgoing.

KCPD and the city arehaving discussions on wher

You might like