Example of on-officer cameras

A few days ago, the Arizona Republic reported on a grant that aims to help policing. Recent news suggests that the steps being taken are good ones.

The $500,000 grant comes from the U.S. Department of Justice, and the money will be used to outfit 50 police officers with on-body video cameras.

For quite some time, we’ve been accustomed to dashboard cameras in police cars. Fixed in place, though, they reveal relatively little of the activities that make up an officer’s daily life.

The on-officer camera would capture far more, integrating a device worn over the ear, similar to a Bluetooth device.

The task force that recommended the use of cameras said they believed it would help ensure that officers, and the public with whom they interact, will behave in the best possible way.

Kelly Thomas, who died after a police encounter

A story out of Fullerton, Calif., this week gives credence to that position.

As reported by the Los Angeles Times (written by Joel Rubin and Richard Winton), two Fullerton officers have been charged, one with murder, in the death of a homeless man. The facts are pretty brutal. But what caught my eye was the fact that audio from an on-officer camera is playing a key role in the prosecution’s case.

Here is the story’s lede:

“Before reaching the decision this week to charge a Fullerton police officer with murder, Orange County prosecutors re-created his fatal encounter with a homeless man from dozens of witness statements, footage from security cameras and cellphone videos.

“The piece of evidence that sealed the decision, however, came from an unexpected source: the officer himself.

“An audio recorder carried by Officer Manuel Ramos captured a chilling exchange between him and Kelly Thomas, in which Ramos told the mentally ill man that he was going to beat him. Those irrefutable words, said Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas, proved Ramos was intent on hurting the defenseless Thomas and led Rackauckas to file the second-degree murder charge.”

This is likely one of those technological developments we later will recognize as a normal and vital part of policing. I’ll have more on the story as it unfolds.