As Kansas City police ready for body cameras, City Hall moves to lend a hand
As demonstrations over police brutality and the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police continue, Kansas City is preparing to equip its officers for the first time with body cameras.
For years, community members have called for the cameras to document officers’ interactions. Now with a private donation, they’re headed in that direction, and the City Council is preparing to help roll out the program.
Mayor Quinton Lucas on Thursday introduced an ordinance directing interim City Manager Earnest Rouse to, in essence, help make it happen. It’s expected to be heard in committee next week.
During a news conference earlier in the day, Lucas said he wasn’t sure when officers could start using the cameras.
Lucas said “all of us” should have pushed harder for the city to get the funding sooner. He called the cameras a helpful tool, but added, “It alone won’t change everything we see.”
The legislation would direct the city manager to work with the Kansas City Police Department to figure out how many body cameras are needed to outfit patrol officers and the cost of those cameras and any other necessary tools, such as space to store and analyze recorded video.
It would also require that the city and police department establish policies to require “all body cameras (to) be turned on while officers are in civilian interactions,” to maintain the cameras and to ensure videos can be turned over to other authorities. The city will also audit the body camera program within three months after it starts.
“That will be to ensure that we are adequately using them, not just saying that we have them,” Lucas said.
Lucas introduced the legislation after nearly a week of protests around the Country Club Plaza over Floyd’s death. Among other demands, protesters wanted Kansas City to start using body cameras.
At a “Unity March” Wednesday evening, Police Chief Rick Smith announced that the department had received some funding to provide the cameras.
The Kansas City-based DeBruce Foundation announced in a statement that it had raised $1.5 million for the cause from community partners, and it donated another $1 million. The group said it recognizes that both citizens and police agree that body cameras are needed but lacked funding. It said it was time “for foundations and business leaders to take action.”
“We believe in Kansas City and we want to be part of the solution for the future good of our community,” the statement read.
Earlier this week, Lucas told reporters his office had been in talks with U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley, both Missouri Republicans, to get federal funding for body cameras.
The Star’s Luke Nozicka contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 5:59 PM.
