Body cams work if used right

THE police officer in the US who shot and killed 15-yearold Jordan Edwards last month in Texas was charged with murder on Friday after the police department determined from body-camera images and other information that deadly force had been unwarranted. But like most jurisdictions, the Dallas County Sheriff ’s Office, which is investigating this case, has no written body-cam policy and has made no decisions about making the footage public.

Many cities adopted body cams after the public outcry over the police killings of Philando Castile, Eric Garner, Laquan McDonald, Walter Scott, Tamir Rice and others. State legislators, however, have largely failed to specify how body cams are to be used and when their contents should be turned over to the public.

New York City has just begun a body-cam pilot program that could change the way departments across the country approach this issue. The US Federal District Court in Manhattan ordered the program when it declared the city’s stopand-frisk program unconstitutional in 2013. The program is set to include 1,200 officers as part of a study that will allow the city to determine whether body cams make a difference in arrests, in complaints from citizens and in how police officers perform their jobs.

Some civil rights groups are displeased that people who want to view police videocam footage of themselves have to file freedom of information requests. They have called on the city to consider more streamlined procedures, like those used in Las Vegas, so people can view their videos quickly. The loudest disagreements, though, have to do with when cameras are turned on or off. Some civil rights advocates are urging that officers record most of their interactions with citizens.

Cities and the court-appointed monitors will need to pay attention to what is working and what is not, and change course as needed.