Had such technology been in use in North Charleston, S.C., last weekend, it might have kept an officer from shooting an unarmed suspect eight times, said Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City.
A bystander did record the shooting.
“We saw the officer’s account was totally different from what actually transpired,” Reynolds said. “But for that video recording, it’s very unlikely that officer would be charged with murder. If that officer had a body camera, it’s very unlikely that he would have done that repulsive conduct.”
Reynolds filed a bill that would require all police departments to put body cameras on officers who interact with the public.
At a committee hearing, Reynolds said his proposal is not an attempt to catch officers doing wrong. Rather, he said, he wants to ease community concerns, especially among minorities, about police brutality. He added that recording officers’ actions would also help exonerate those who are falsely accused of misconduct.
No action was taken on the bill.
Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, has filed a separate measure that would set guidelines on the use of police body cameras and require departments to apply for funding for camera equipment. His bill is scheduled for a hearing next week.
The Dallas and DeSoto police chiefs, among others, have expressed support for West’s bill.
But some law enforcement officials were reluctant to back Reynolds’ call for mandatory body cameras, even as they acknowledged that such video technology will become more prevalent with time.
Ron Hickman, a constable in Harris County, said many Texas law enforcement agencies already use body cameras, and that their presence does reduce complaints against officers as well as the use of force in the field. The cameras, he said, keep everyone on better behavior.
But he said it would be premature to make body cameras mandatory. There are still unanswered questions, he said, about costs, the storage of video data and other considerations.
A representative from the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas said officers worry about invasions of their privacy. For example, the representative said, body cameras might record personal conversations between officers and their families, and those conversations might then be subject to public disclosure.
Rep. Linda Koop, R-Dallas, said she was concerned about the cost and about the risk of disclosing sensitive information — such as the identity or statements of witnesseses.
Reynolds said he was willing to fine-tune the bill to address privacy and other concerns.