Sarasota, Florida -- Equipping law enforcement officers with body cameras has been the talk since the Ferguson shooting of Michael Brown.
The White House has proposed $75 million to buy 50,000 body cameras for the nation's police. But some local agencies say money isn't the problem: They worry about what happens after the cameras start rolling.
The Sarasota Police Department has its body cameras on order. The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office is thinking about it. Even though the White House is proposing millions of dollars to help law enforcement agencies buy cameras, the sheriff's office says it's not the answer.
"When you talk federal funds there's always some political posturing as a result of recent events. We never advocate throwing money at a problem to solve it. We want to be thoughtful and thorough," says Major Paul Richard with the sheriff's office.
Richard says the use of body cameras raises too many questions.
"In the state of Florida it needs to develop protocol procedures when they turn on video and turn it off as it relates to privacy," said Richard.
Across the street, the Sarasota Police Department has drafted its policy for body cameras.
"For now it will be rolling on calls for service," says Sgt. Bryan Graham.
PREVIOUS:Sarasota police order cameras
The Sarasota Police Department started looking into body cameras last year and during the summer and ordered 24 cameras using a $36,000 grant. The cameras arrive next month. Officers will wear the cameras on either their hats, glasses, over the ear or epaulet. Graham says the cameras will help show transparency and build trust between police and the community.
"Complaints go down use of force goes down behavior is different of officers and civilians when cameras are rolling," says Graham.
The grant money does not cover cost to maintain and store the footage each year. Sarasota police officials estimate that cost to be $20,000 a year to cover the 24 cameras ordered. According to state law, all evidence must be stored. In the case of a first-degree misdemeanor retention is seven years.
Both agencies agree Florida's public records laws pose a challenge.
"We estimate 15 percent of all video needs to be redacted. Audio-wise, names, date of birth, Social Security numbers, video people not involved in the crime," said Graham.
That kind of work, says Richard, is labor intensive and costly. "Somewhere in the neighborhood 1 to 2 hour video tape close to 30 ½ hours to review redact appropriately," says Richard.
Lena Chambers thinks the body cameras serve a purpose. She says, "I think we will know what's going on when stopped not be any confusion."
Others say the cameras resolve nothing. Ashley Gicchino says, "Pros and cons to it, too, what's taped, how it's taped, what angle it's taped. It all eventually becomes a problem for somebody."
