Bill Would Require Police To Wear Body Cameras

December 5, 2014

Amid a broader national debate about the issue, a state House Democrat filed a proposal Thursday that would require body cameras for all Florida police officers who primarily are assigned to patrol duties. The bill filed by Rep. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park will be considered during the 2015 legislative session.

Under the proposal, officers would have to use the cameras “to record activities that take place during motor vehicle stops or other law enforcement actions taken during the course of his or her official duties.”

The bill comes amid a national debate, fueled by fatal incidents in New York and Missouri, about police use of force. Earlier this week, President Barack Obama proposed spending $263 million to increase the use of the cameras and to take other steps, such as expanding law-enforcement training. Jones’ bill is named the “Police and Citizen Protection Act.”

by The News Service of Florida

Comments

7 Responses to “Bill Would Require Police To Wear Body Cameras”

  1. john on December 9th, 2014 6:41 am

    I think body cameras could be a could be a good idea..Maybe, but taking federal dollars to pay for them are not. Let locals decide. Not every police department needs them. It maybe hard for some to believe, but in some communities people get up and go to work for a living, they don’t have time to be-bop down the streets looking for trouble, things to steal, bunch of no good bums.

  2. haley on December 8th, 2014 3:29 pm

    I agree. If an LEO tells you to stop, you need to stop. Ppl that resist are just asking for consequences they may have put themselves into. However, as I stated on December 5, the body cameras can work for both citizens and LEO’s. Regardless of whether or not the new cameras can tell when a camera was turned off is irrelevant. The law needs to make sure that the cameras/audio is never turned off. For the protection of both the LEOs and those being stopped, arrested.

  3. David Huie Green on December 7th, 2014 9:26 am

    REGARDING:
    “The only concern I have is there needs to be large consideration for public records requests on body camera footage. Can the public request footage of an officer being inside your home working a call or of a rape scene or murder scene. There are some things the public should never have access to and have to be addressed in the bill”

    Nah, keep it simple. Follow the law regarding public records and let every creep and potential thief — err, I mean citizen — see what the police see.

    Also, if someone tries to interfere with a lawful arrest, be sure to use the video to arrest and charge them too. And if the records show evidence of unrelated crimes, don’t ignore them, arrest and charge everybody involved in those instances too.

    David for busy prosecutors

  4. Crazy on December 6th, 2014 8:13 am

    People has to learn… When a police officer tells you to do something… do it… Don’t resist!!
    If you have a problem with why the office told you to do something take it up later… The legal way!
    The police don’t know most of us from a hill of beans.. They don’t know if we are on drugs, just killed someone, or in some cases now days – has a bomb and about to blow us up. Let the officer make sure he/she is safe and talk with them.
    It doesn’t matter the color of your skin. When the police tells you to do something – Do It…
    When you resist… Or tell an officer to bleep off…your not only putting you life in danger your putting bystanders and the cop in danger as well..

  5. FSUCottageHillGuy on December 5th, 2014 4:12 pm

    Body Cameras for Law Enforcement has multiple advantages for LEOs and gives protection to them. The only concern I have is there needs to be large consideration for public records requests on body camera footage. Can the public request footage of an officer being inside your home working a call or of a rape scene or murder scene. There are some things the public should never have access too and have to be addressed in the bill. Also, statistics have been placed out there where the $263 million dollars will only pay for 50,000 body cameras but there are over 600,000 local LEOs in our country.

  6. molino jim on December 5th, 2014 1:28 pm

    @Haley— The new cameras will show if it was turned off and for how long. Now if law enforcement could get the general public from in front of their TV’s and see what the real world is like on the street they would be shocked. What part of “you are under arrest” do some people not understand. A normal size office confronted by a subject who is 6′5″ 300# who does not want to be arrested– what is the officer suppose to do? Maybe just call “King X” and let the person go. There is an easy answer– just do like some other countries do and shoot the person on the spot or tell the victim to file a report the next day if they are able to. Those who are ready to protest with out knowing the facts are fools– being led by fools.

  7. haley on December 5th, 2014 10:58 am

    I think this is a great idea and hopefully it will pass. It not only protects LEO’s on potential accusations such as the one in Ferguson. It also could be useful in situation where the police take unnecessary force during a traffic stop or arrest. The problem being, and hopefully something will be built into the proposal as there have been instances in which the office has seen fit to turn off the camera or the audio recording devices on a routine traffice stop and thereby if one were to take a look or try to listen to what the officer/ person being pulled over was saying. I am hoping this will not be an option for the LEO. This will defeat the purpose of the bill as it protects both the police and citizens.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News