Police use of force is a particularly hot button topic in America today. Too often the lines on what is acceptable get muddled because we don't really know what happened. When tragedy strikes and there are multiple interest groups trying to bend the story to support their narrative it's imperative that we have undeniable proof as to what actually happened. The world is increasingly supported by technology, and we can utilize it as both a shield to protect good cops and evidence to prosecute bad ones.
The mandatory use of body cameras is already a common topic of discussion among many city centers. Rochester is in a perfect position to lead by example. We are a large enough population to examine the practicality of the policy, small enough to make it really work, and diverse enough for it to be a pressing concern.
In practice the use of body cameras has nearly no down sides. When there are instances of police injustice the body camera video serves as strong evidence in prosecution. When the police are in the right the video is a protection from mischaracterization of the situation. The only people who should be afraid of the practice of mandatory body camera use are people committing crimes (civilian or police).
In the event an officer would turn off their body camera such that a confrontation would not be recorded, there would have to be repercussions. In order for mandatory body cameras to not just be a policy, but a reality, we need to have a punitive system in place if policy isn't followed. There would need to be a lengthy investigation into an incident in which a body camera wasn't activated. The only people who should be afraid of these investigations are people committing crimes (civilian or police).
For these reasons I call on you to join me in our appeal, to the Rochester City Council and Mayor Kim Norton, to bring about mandatory use of body cameras for police officers in Rochester Minnesota.