Columbus City Council President Andrew Ginther announced a new plan today to equip the Columbus police force with body cameras, providing an additional layer of transparency and safety to police interactions with the community. The program echoes statements from a press conference event in May where Mayor Michael Coleman, Police Chief Kim Jacobs and other local leaders voiced their desires for a body camera system.
“Body cameras will promote officer and resident safety by documenting interactions and providing an impartial, factual record of interactions with the public,” stated Ginther today. “I will work with the community and police to chart this path forward.”
Ginther, who is currently running for Mayor of Columbus, was quick to be criticized by his opponent, Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott, who proclaimed that the effort is too late.
“As the top law enforcement officer in Franklin County I have already been working with the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association to implement body cameras and as I said in the primary, Body cameras will become mandatory for Law Enforcement,” said Scott. “Mr. Ginther waffled on questions about body cameras during the primary debates. Unlike Mr. Ginther, I did not need to take a poll to determine my position on this important issue.”
The plan announced today will produce a report by the end of 2015 that will outline the rules and regulations for the body camera program, with deployment of equipment expected to begin sometime next year. The report will also help to outline costs, potential state and federal funding sources, local staffing needs, and best practices for the new system.
Columbus Police Chief Jacobs stated in May that body cameras may only be the first step in a new wave of technology implementations in local police operations.
“I think that all of our officers understand that body cameras are probably the wave of the future,” she said. “Some day we might be flying drones instead of approaching cars.”
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