Ferguson decision spurs renewed calls for cops to wear body cameras

A day after rioting, looting and arson tore apart Ferguson following the announcement that the officer who shot Michael Brown, a black teen, to death will not be charged.

A protester holds her hands up in front of a police car in Ferguson, Missouri, on November 25, 2014 during demonstrations a day after violent protests followed the grand jury decision not to indict the officer who fatally shot an 18-year-old black teenager Michael Brown. Jewel Samad/AFP PhotoShow less

SACRAMENTO, USA // A Missouri grand jury’s decision not to indict a white Ferguson police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager is prompting renewed calls for cops to wear body cameras.

A lawyer for the family of Michael Brown, the 18-year-old killed in the August 9 incident, called for legislation requiring such devices. Police departments have been slow to adopt the technology, citing privacy concerns. A 2013 survey found that only 25 per cent of the police forces polled used body cameras.

“We won’t have to play this game of witnesses’ memories and secret grand jury procedures,” family attorney Benjamin Crump said on Wednesday at a news briefing. “It would just be transparent, and we could see it ourselves, and we could hold people accountable when they have interactions with citizens.”

A day after rioting, looting and arson tore apart Ferguson following the announcement that Officer Darren Wilson wouldn’t be charged, police across the US, together with government officials and community leaders, are searching for lessons from an incident that began with jaywalking and ended with police gunfire.

The devices, also known as on-officer recording systems, can be mounted on eyewear, a hat, an epaulette or chest to capture an officer’s interaction with the public. When deployed, the cameras create a visual record of an incident, which can be shown to the public if necessary.

“What we need now is reform and action, not violence or vengeance,” New York City Public Advocate Letitia James said in a statement. “Our cities, starting with New York, must speed up reforms like effective police assignments, body-worn cameras and appropriate police oversight.”

Mr Wilson said he feared for his life while fending off punches by Brown, who had reached into the officer’s vehicle, according to a transcript of his grand jury testimony. Without any video footage of the shooting, the grand jury relied on Mr Wilson’s testimony, witness accounts and physical evidence.

“Police officers do the right thing 99.9 per cent of the time, and they should have proof of that,” said Chuck Drago, a former Florida police chief who now consults departments nationwide on tactics and procedures. “They help the officer prove his point.”

Cops in Ferguson started wearing the devices in the weeks following Brown’s shooting.

Studies have found that in departments where cameras are worn, there’s a reduction in use of force and complaints, according to a report by the Police Executive Research Forum, a law enforcement research group. Of 254 police departments that responded to a survey by the group in 2013 asking if they deploy body cameras, 75 per cent said they didn’t.

Mr Wilson told the 12-member grand jury that despite being 93 centimetres and weighing about 95 kilograms, he felt like a small child attempting to restrain former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan.

Mr Wilson said he struggled for his own gun with the 289-pound Brown, eventually firing two shots at the 18-year-old. When Brown ran, Mr Wilson said he gave chase, only to have Brown turn around and charge him before he fired several more shots.

Police departments need to look at how their officers are trained to avoid putting themselves in a spot where a minor incident escalates into a shooting, Mr Drago said.

Mr Wilson had originally encountered Brown and another man walking in the middle of the street, according to the grand jury transcripts. One matched the description of a suspect who had just stolen cigarillos from a nearby store.

Mr Wilson had called for backup, though Brown was already down by the time other officers arrived. Having a partner in his vehicle might have helped Mr Wilson, though studies have shown that two-person patrols aren’t any safer for cops, Mr Drago added.

“What police departments have to take from this is how do we keep police officers from getting in those positions to begin with?” Mr Drago said. “How does an officer allow a suspect, an individual like this, to get on top of him in a police car?”

* Bloomberg News