It’s been almost a year since Texas law enforcement agencies started adding body cameras to their patrol. However, before the thousands of body cameras become active, Texas lawmakers met on Monday to see if they are living up to their initial purpose of creating more transparency.
Last year the state legislature passed Senate Bill 158, which offers up to $10 million dollars to help local law enforcement agencies buy thousands of body cameras.
“I think Texas is going to be the cutting edge,” Representative Allen Fletcher, Chairman of the House Select Committee on Emerging Issues in Texas Law Enforcement said. “Texas is a standard for a lot of things in the nation, but I think we can be the standard for body cameras too.”
Fletcher, a retired Houston peace officer, told the committee on Monday morning that so far the feedback is nothing but positive.
“I’ve interacted with peace officers all over the state of Texas—two years before the legislation last session and ever since we got out—and I haven’t had a single peace officer say to me, Oh gosh I wish I didn’t have to wear a body camera,” Fletcher said. “All they ask me is when am I going to have my body camera.”
Kevin Lawrence with the Texas Municipal Police Association said the technology has its limitations.
“Individual officers, absolutely in favor of having body cameras,” Lawrence said. “As long as we understand they are simply one more tool in the toolbox and they are not a cure-all.”
Lawrence said adding more cameras will not change the feelings of mistrust that a large portion of the population has with law enforcement.
“The camera doesn’t see everything the officer sees, and the officer doesn’t see everything the camera sees,” Lawrence said. “I’m afraid that there is too big of a percentage of our general population that that’s the whole point. They are looking for those “AHA” moments—they are looking to catch the officers doing something wrong.”
During Monday’s hearing, Fletcher also talked about using some of the $800 million directed at securing the border towards technology for local law enforcement agencies.
The deadline for police departments to submit a request for grant money is July 15th.
Under Senate Bill 158 local agencies are given the ability to decide how the policy and training program will be implemented. The deadline for that is September 1.
