JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The year 2017 will be one for more accountability in law enforcement and the public.
Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said some patrol officers will start testing body-worn cameras in the field in April. He said all officers on the street should be equipped by October of this year.
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The decision follows several incidents involving JSO officers and citizens, including the shooting death of Vernell Bing Jr.
In that case, the JSO officer said he felt threatened after Bing rammed a stolen car into his cruiser. But witnesses claimed Bing was unarmed and running away. A number of activists noted that if body cameras were in use, the truth would be told.
"It's really not a difficult decision to make," Williams said. "Some of the challenges that we had were not about what people will see, it was the privacy issues, it's the cost issue, obviously. Those are really the hurdles. The hurdle was never, 'We don't want the public to see this interaction.' Just the contrary. We do want the public to see the interaction. They need to see what the officers are dealing with and working with every day. Investigatively, it's going to help us in a lot of different areas."
Meanwhile, in Clay County, incoming Sheriff Darryl Daniels said he will consider outfitting deputies there with body cameras. His administration said he wants to focus on transparency and cutting down on crime, and body cameras are on the list of things they'll look at.
News4Jax spoke with an activist who has been pushing for police accountability in our community for the past several years.
"We think that we need body cameras, because they will increase accountability on the part of the citizens and also on the part of the police," Ben Frazier, with Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said. "We need more transparency, we need more accountability and we need more honesty."
Frazier said his organization also wants the public to have oversight of the policies about when police should use the body cameras and what should be released to the public.