Durham Leaders Delay Purchase of Body Cameras

The Durham City Council voted on Monday to delay the purchase of body cameras for the police department.

There was concern among council members and the public that the Durham Police Department’s draft policy regarding the cameras did not provide access for the public to view the videos.

Deputy Chief Anthony Marsh presented a new draft of that policy.

“We think that it strikes a reasonable balance between all the various issues that have been raised and concerns that have been raised by the public and the officers and members of the council as well,” said Marsh.

Councilwoman Jillian Johnson said the new draft is an improvement but changes still needed to be made.

“We have a policy that is much better than it was at the beginning, and I think that it still needs to be better in order to move forward with this camera purchase,” said Johnson.

According to the meeting’s agenda, the contract to purchase the cameras would cost the city $366,738.

In December, Marsh said the body camera footage would follow the same rules as video from dashboard cameras. That footage is only available in criminal investigations.

The current draft says the release of the body camera footage would be at the discretion of the police chief. Jade Brooks, among others, said that policy would not help increase public trust in the police.

“How will these body cameras be building a culture of trust if the police chief can delete or edit footage at will? That, to me, is not creating accountability, it’s increasing a culture of surveillance,” said Brooks.

Councilman Charlie Reece said that even before the meeting he supported delaying the purchase, but he still believed that the body cameras were a good idea.

“I am a believer that the use of police-worn body cameras can make a huge difference in communities that are disproportionately affected by violence,” said Reece.

Council members agreed to work with the police department to revise the policy before their next meeting.

The Durham City Council will revisit the issue in March.