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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Interesting development in the body-worn video discussion

This just in from Ars Technica, "Claire McCaskill, the Democratic senator from Missouri, says police departments nationwide should require their officers wear body cameras in order to qualify for the hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding they receive each year."

You read that right, the Senator wants to tie federal money that police agencies currently receive to compliance with this proposed nationwide body-worn video mandate.

"The lawmaker did not offer legislation to support her words. McCaskill, however, is not alone in her thinking. Last week, an online petition asking the White House to require all police departments to wear lapel cameras hit 100,000 signatures. The President Barack Obama administration has promised to publicly address petitions reaching 100,000 signatures."

The movement to get agencies to adopt body-worn video recorders is not new. Many agencies have declined to purchase recorders due to the high purchase price and the cost of maintenance, as well as the cost of storing / distributing the recorded footage.

But, linking the issue to existing federal funding puts a new twist on the story. Stay tuned.

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