BOSTON (AP/MyFoxBoston.com) - The Boston City Council is considering a proposal to equip city police with body cameras.
City Councilor Charles Yancey sponsored the proposal, which went before the council on Wednesday.
Yancey says police must be held accountable and that documenting evidence would be helpful in cases that involve deadly force.
The proposal requires all uniformed and plainclothes officers in the field to wear cameras and record public interactions. Officers would be required record while they're responding to calls, pursuing suspects, at crime scenes, and during searches, arrests, and physical confrontations.
Officers would also be prohibited from using cameras during lawful protests, inside courtrooms, or if there's a risk they could expose a confidential informant or undercover officer.
"It's about time that Boston stands up and provides the opportunity for the general public to know that that their interaction with police will be transparent," Yancey told FOX25.
These cameras are already being tested in communities like Methuen and Worcester.
The ACLU and community groups were part of drafting Boston's proposed ordinance.
Carl Williams of the ACLU said, "Black people are stopped more than other folks. Latino people are stopped more than other folks even if you control for factors like crime and alleged gang membership so in some of our communities in Boston, there's a lack of trust."
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said, "A device on someone's lapel is not going to solve the historical bad relationship between the African American community and the police."
Evans told councilors his department has never said no to body cameras, just that they need more time to study their impact. He was quick to discount the ACLU's data and said community policing is more effective and body cameras would deter people from reporting crimes to them.
