KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The DeBruce Foundation donated $2.5 million to the Kansas City Police Department to buy body cameras.
The move comes after a lot of outcry over the years.
"I frankly believe that if you don't have anything to hide, then you shouldn't worry about the body cams in regard to privacy," activist Justice Horn said in a 41 Action News town hall meeting on Thursday morning.
The department is still working out how many cameras it will get, the type of cameras, which company will provide them and how to roll out the process. It has promised a "quick and timely implementation."
"What you'll be looking for is one that has good and clear resolution from picture as possible and has good sound. You'll be looking at reliability and some of those things," John Hamilton said.
Hamilton is an associate professor of criminal justice at Park University and a former Kansas City police officer. He said the success of the body cameras will depend on expectations.
He believes there should be a community group working together with the police during the rollout so there aren't questions when something goes wrong.
"Both sides can learn about these at the same time," Hamilton said. "The police will be wondering about operation and how they work, those kinds of things. The community can look and see, what kinds of pictures do you get? What will it pick up? What won't it pick up?"
“They can understand the thought process of what went in to creating different rules and are less likely to be cynical of the police if and when it doesn’t work exactly the way we want in every situation,” added Ken Novak, a criminal justice professor at UMKC.
Hamilton and Mayor Quinton Lucas acknowledge the body cameras won't eliminate police brutality.
"We see, in fact, that's what our protests largely around America are about right now, that visual images alone perhaps don't change policing and haven't changed all the situations of potential misconduct. We recognize it as just a tool, but one that is important," Lucas said.
Brad Lemon, president of Kansas City FOP Lodge 99, said at the town hall that they welcome the body cams.
"There's been a lot of national studies by the FOP and other places that show that 98 percent of complaints against police officers are thrown out as a result of the body cam," Lemon said.
Novak said research has shown use of force incidents go down for departments which use body cameras. He said the number of arrests and tickets issues increase.
“The video itself has a calming effect on all parties. And this calming effect, decreases the likelihood that you’re going to have escalation that may end up in use of force,” Novak pointed out.
Hamilton said he thinks the body cameras are a needed, overdue move and that they will provide a different viewpoint and audio of an incident that will be helpful in determining if an officer's actions were appropriate or not.
"I don't want this to be seen as a babysitter," Hamilton said. "If that's what this is going to be used for, then there are deeper issues involved."
The police department still needs funding for training, data maintenance and the ongoing body cam program. KCPD and the city are currently having discussions on where that money will come from.
