Commission approves policy for Los
Angeles police body cameras
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[April 29, 2015]
By Alex Dobuzinskis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles
Police Commission approved a policy on Tuesday clearing the way for the
widespread use of body cameras by patrol officers in the second-largest
U.S. city, as tensions rise in the United States over police
use-of-force incidents.
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Mayor Eric Garcetti said in December the city would equip 7,000
Los Angeles Police Department officers with the devices over the
next two years to capture their day-to-day interactions with
civilians.
The commission's 3-1 vote on rules governing the use of the devices
brings Los Angeles closer to becoming the largest U.S. city to put
body cameras into widespread use. New York, Chicago and Washington
are conducting pilot programs to test the cameras and evaluate their
worth.
Officials are also testing the use of body cameras by officers in
Baltimore, which on Monday saw riots following several days of
protests over the death of a black man who suffered a fatal spine
injury while in police custody. The rules approved by the Los Angeles police commission require
officers to turn on the body cameras when they pull over drivers,
make arrests, engage in foot pursuits, transport suspects and
interview witnesses and victims, among other times.
Hector Villagra, executive director of the American Civil Liberties
Union of Southern California, said in a statement the plan for use
of the body cameras has "serious flaws."
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Villagra criticized the decision not to require release of the
footage to the public after shootings. He also took issue with a
part of the policy that lets officers involved in shootings review
footage from a body camera before making their statements to
investigators.
Los Angeles Police Protective League President Craig Lally said in a
statement that the police union supports the policy.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Daniel Wallis and
Mohammad Zargham)
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