Cameras in Police Cars

The Rockford police chief and some city officials want to

install video cameras in all 100 police cars. They think this

will reduce the number of lawsuits filed against the city. In

the last five years, Rockford has paid out more than five

million dollars to settle about 40 lawsuits.

The chief said, “If cameras had been in those cars, we

wouldn’t have had to pay one dime. We’re always pulling

over drunks or drug users who try to fight the cops or shoot

them. Then they always claim that the police started

beating them first or started shooting at them first. What

hogwash!”

The cost of installing cameras will be about $500 per

vehicle. The city council will vote on the proposal next

Monday. Ten of the 13 council members, when asked about

the proposal, said that they liked the idea. One member

said that it makes good fiscal sense and common sense. If

the cameras are approved, they can be installed in all the

cars within six weeks.

The police officers enthusiastically support camera use.

One officer said that too many people think the police are

liars; cameras would show citizens that police tell the truth.

“The money that we’ve been spending on lawsuits will be

better spent on more cameras,” said one officer.

Citizen reaction to the idea of police car cameras is mixed.

One person said that the police should have started doing

this years ago when video cameras were invented. But an

elderly man said that cameras were an invasion of privacy.

“These police are trying to stick their nose into everything,”

he said. He was going to attend the council meeting to

condemn the proposal. He hoped that other citizens would

join him.