Personally, I don't think this is going to work unless there's a financial disincentive. If a police officer "forgets" to turn on the camera, he should be docked a week's pay. But it's a start!
President Obama will propose $75 million in federal matching funds for police body cameras today, and he will conduct three separate meetings on Ferguson-related issues.
Two members of the Ferguson Commission are expected to be in the meetings, but the Missouri congressional delegation is not involved.
The police body camera funds, to be handed out over three years, could result in 50,000 body cameras on local police officers around the country, said senior White House officials, who refused to allow their names to be published. Local police departments can apply for the matching funds in a program modeled after one that equipped officers around the county with body armor.
It's part of a proposed $263 million, three-year initiative that will also provide more local police training and broaden the federal Department of Justice's role in that training, White House officials told reporters in a background briefing this morning.
