Body Cameras in La

Michael Brown, Jerame Reid, Tamir Rice, Phillip White, the list goes on and on of those killed by the police last year. The officers who killed these men were not found guilty for murder or wrongful death, however, with their actions being filmed from the police’s perspective, finding justice for those who lost their lives would be much simpler. In LA, Police Chief Charlie Beck and Mayor Eric Garcetti plan to have 7,000 officers with body cameras in the field by the end of 2017. Due to unexpected prices, the execution of this plan has been brought to a halt. The LA City council definitely made the right decision by stopping the rollout of the cameras.

The LAPD is grossly overestimating their needs for this camera project, as well as not thinking everything through. In limiting themselves to one taser brand for so many years, they backed themselves into a corner by trying to negotiate with a rapidly approaching deadline and a clear preference, there was no way that the LAPD could have possibly had any advantages. If they had tested the myriad of brands available to them over the years, they may have found a cheaper taser that they preferred, or had a bidding war that would buy them time in order to fully plan out the camera initiative. The amount of workers the police believe they need to hire is utterly ridiculous. Yes, the new technology will require some, new hires to manage the overview and integration of the cameras, but 128 seems, and is, too many people for one general job of maintaining cameras. In saving money by only hiring new officers when they are needed, instead of a bulk at one time, the department will be able to spend money on other necessities. If they were to hire 128 officers before they saw how the cameras panned out, the department and city would be losing a tremendous amount of money.

The body cameras for the police are a great idea, with high practicality. Even though the LAPD and city needs to further research their plan and make sure it is flawless before they proceed with a $57.6 million project. Without being 100% sure that they are ready for anything that they may have not expected, the LAPD should not go any further with this plan. Even if the project is delayed a few weeks or months, it is worth it in the end; the body camera program is much too important to be completed carelessly.