Cleveland Police have long been behind the curve in camera technology to record what police encounter and how they respond to it.
But after two years of trials, testing and negotiating, Wednesday the first Cleveland Police officers wearing body cameras were to hit the streets in the Fourth District.
Police Chief Calvin Williams told City Council’s Safety Committee that camera deployment had begun and would be phased in citywide over the coming months.
“The plan is to equip every officer with a camera…I will wear a body camera,” Williams said.
The implementation starts at a sensitive time when the city is negotiating a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice to make Cleveland police reforms that deal with excessive use of force and a lack of accountability within the department.
Councilman Jeff Johnson said, “The majority of citizens — black, white and Hispanic — are law-abiding citizens and many have found themselves on the wrong side of mistreatment.”
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source: Wkyc.com
