Baltimore County Police officers will have body cameras within three years.
County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said Thursday they will start phasing in body cameras in all precincts next July. All officers who need them--about 1,450--will have them by July 2018.
Kamenetz appeared on WYPR’s Midday Program, along with Police Chief Jim Johnson. The executive said he still needs to work out details, like when to turn on the cameras and how to handle public requests to see the videos. He said many confrontations between police officers and citizens come during traffic stops.
"That camera will serve to validate--it better validate--that officer’s reason for stopping a car," Kamenetz said. "But it will also serve to temper the response from the driver."
A county commission appointed to study the issue recommended against body cameras in April, saying the costs outweigh the benefits. The commission said there was no pressing need for body cameras and the county should slow down and study it further. But Chief Johnson disagreed.
"That’s not the Baltimore County way. We’re a very progressive agency. We’re on the cutting edge," he said.
One county councilman, Republican Todd Crandell, isn’t sold on the idea. He said it’s a matter of priorities and that body cameras should go on the back burner. The money-- $7 million over five years to get the cameras rolling-- could be better spent putting air conditioning in a couple of county schools, he said.