WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- The DC Council unanimously voted Tuesday to give tentative approval to a body camera bill. This means, pending final approval, nearly every Metropolitan police officer on the street will be required to wear video cameras.
The debate over police body cameras in the District has been going on for eight months. The D.C. Council's vote was the first of two votes. The proposed legislation requires all 2,800 patrol officers to be equipped with body cameras.
It's been called the toughest and most expansive body camera program in the country. A big part of this debate has been how to protect the privacy of people who are recorded, and how those recordings would be released to the public. As the bill stands now, victims of sexual assault and domestic violence would be protected but most of the video would be available to the public through freedom of information act requests.
There are currently about 400 body cameras used by officers on the streets. Police Chief Cathy Lanier says the department would need time to purchase all of the body cameras. In an effort to facilitate that request, Mayor Bowser requested the bill be downgraded from emergency legislation.
The council will vote on final approval of the bill on December 15.
Like this story? Like us on Facebook
