More Police Departments Outfitting Policemen with Wearable Cameras

Well, Officer Darren Wilson sure could've used one, although we haven't heard from him yet, so more on that later.

At WSJ, "More Officers Wearing Body Cameras" (via Google):

More police departments are giving officers wearable cameras: http://t.co/YlGr0fmhi4 pic.twitter.com/MUNPEJdNg8

— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 17, 2014

More police departments are outfitting policemen with wearable cameras that tape what officers see as they do their job, providing a record in the aftermath of incidents like the one in Ferguson, Mo., where a policeman shot and killed an unarmed black teen.

The cameras have shown promise in reducing incidents involving use of force as well as citizen complaints, according to new studies. Worn on officers' lapels, glasses or hats, the cameras can document a more definitive version of police work.

"If you look at what's happening in Ferguson—basically you have two entirely different versions of events," said Michael White, a professor of criminology at Arizona State University. "If that officer was wearing a body-worn camera we could just go to the tape."

Dr. White, who has studied the use of the cameras, said "there's tremendous potential to head off these types of incidents from blowing up afterwards."

In a press conference earlier this week, Thomas Jackson, chief of the Ferguson police department, said the department had only recently been budgeted $5,000 to buy a limited number of dashboard cameras and body cameras for officers. Mr. Jackson said the department had not yet put them into use at the time of the shooting but plans on incorporating them into vehicles and on officers soon.

In the Southern California city of Rialto, the number of citizen complaints against police dropped from 24 to 3 in the first year that the patrol officers began wearing cameras in 2012. Use-of-force incidents plummeted from 61 to 25 during the same period.

Tony Farrar, Rialto's chief of police said, "When you talk about putting a camera on somebody, human nature is going to dictate that you're going mind your p's and q's and you're going to be on the best behavior."

"At the same, I think it's had an impact on citizens—if they know you're wearing a camera they too will be on their best behavior," he said.

More.