Atrocities by the public prove Seattle police need more body cams

Police body cameras are not just a good idea, they are downright necessary, KIRO Radio’s Don O’Neill believes.

The United State Department of Justice awarded the Seattle Police Department a $600,000 grant to implement an expanded body-worn camera program.

Earlier this year, the police department conducted a six-month pilot of body-worn cameras, making some of that footage available to the public via YouTube. Police also participated in the White House Police Data Initiative as part of an effort to enhance transparency and accountability in law enforcement.

The department will develop its policies and protocols for the cameras, which could prove difficult. Law enforcement officials, including King County Sheriff John Urquhart, who supports wearing them, have voiced their concerns over the logistics of body cameras; mainly over the time it takes to redact material.

With the announcement of an expanded program then, should lawmakers consider changing how much material needs to be redacted? If more officers are wearing body cams, that’s a lot more material people will have to weed through.

“Should we just do a complete overhaul and say, ‘Should all that be allowed?'” KIRO Radio’s Ron Upshaw asked.

It’s a tough question, one that Don doesn’t have an answer to. However, he knows that the body cams are necessary.

Just take the recent pistol-whipping incident that police stopped over the weekend as an example. Police arrested three men suspected of beating another. When the men were being arrested, a crowd gathered and began accusing police of racial profiling, Seattle superhero Phoenix Jones told KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz. With body cams, police could easily prove they were in the right, especially when they pulled a gun out of one of the men’s pockets &#8212 he was also a felon.

“It’s atrocious the way people try to set up cops and pull out cameras and shoot video,” Don said.

With body cams, at least police have some technology working for them, instead of against them.

“Police have to wear cameras,” Don explained. “Because every citizen has a camera and a percentage of them are coming after [police] and they’re looking for a pay day.”

But will extra body cams and the evidence they provide be worth the cost of fulfilling records requests? Ron asked again. The number of hours of video that will be generated will require a fleet of people to monitor and edit.

“Puttin’ people to work; it has to be done,” Don responded.