Should police body cameras be mandatory? Some in Arkansas say yes.

by Shelby Rose

Sat, June 26th 2021, 2:07 AM UTC

A police officer with a body camera on his uniform. Body-worn cameras are used in many departments across Arkansas, but there is no state mandate requiring them. (Photo: KATV)

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — The use of body-worn cameras has become a hot topic following the shooting death of a 17-year-old by a Lonoke County sheriff's office deputy.

Whatever footage exists of that encounter is in the hands of state police, but it has not been released to the public.

There are only seven states in the U.S. with a policy mandating departments to have body-worn cameras, and some are hoping Arkansas will become the eighth. Scott Hamilton, the CEO of the Urban League of Arkansas, said the devices help put both the community and the officer's mind at ease.

"I think that people need to know if there's an engagement with law enforcement, you are being recorded, and that's also good for the officer," he said.

Support for body-worn cameras comes from both sides of the aisle.

"I think they should be utilized," said Republican state Sen. Jonathan Dismang. "I think they're helpful to make sure that citizens understand what's happening and in some cases, it's helpful for prosecution."

But Dismang said he doesn't think the state is ready to have a statewide policy requiring them. He said the issue is not that agencies are against it. It's simply the high cost of body cameras makes them unaffordable for many departments.

"It's one thing to be able to say this is something we want to do, but we have to make sure we know how to pay for it," he said.

Dismang said that there are both federal and state grants for departments to use, but Hamilton said there's no excuse for only partial funding.

"Cost should not be an issue," said Hamilton. "I think we have to figure out a way to pay for it. If that means the community needs to do a special tax funding -- whatever we got to do. I think that there's no way that we should let cost be an impediment to having all law enforcement with that type of equipment."

Dismang is open to having the state help with that funding, but there would need to be a study to see what that the cost would look like before it got his support.

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