DELAWARE - On Wednesday morning, Governor John Carney signed into law House Bill 195, which requires police officers and certain employees of the Department of Correction and Department of Services for Children, Youth, and their Families to wear body cameras.
Out of Delaware's 48 law enforcement agencies, 23 currently wear body cameras. Delaware will now have a statewide body-worn camera program, which was one of the goals the Delaware Legislative Black Caucus set out to achieve at the general assembly's latest session. The caucus created the “Justice for All” agenda last June after the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.
The governor says this is the most important piece of legislation for the “Justice for All” agenda.
Seven states have a statewide body camera mandate, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Delaware is now the 8th state to do so.
"The First State is now a national leader in transparency in our country,” said Attorney General Kathy Jennings.
Members of the general assembly touted the importance of promoting transparency and responsibility in the first state.
"Body worn cameras create transparency and accountability not just for the officers, but the community as well. I don't want officers having stories being told about them that aren't true,” said Representative Sherry Dorsey Walker.
Police expert, Jamison Rogers, says the cameras benefit everyone.
"We've seen recently that the community isn’t keen on taking the police's word when things do transpire,” said Rogers.
On the other side, "with everything being documented in real time and having a first hand perspective with police officers’ encounter with said individual, everything is being recorded,” he said.
The Fraternal Order of Police President for Sussex County Lodge 32, Robert J. Schappert III told WRDE in a statement: "Body cams will be very helpful to the law enforcement community at large and the citizens being served. They will provide facts to mitigate complaints of excessive force, but they may not tell the complete story at times. Body cams are expensive and provide evidence for criminal cases so there needs to be strict policies in place supporting the storage, chain of custody, and training of law enforcement personnel. Body cams will also keep prosecutors in anti-police jurisdictions situationally aware of false accusations against police officers. We support re-fund police agencies so they can purchase body cams because what we have here is a public safety issue and the law enforcement community needs our support. Hopefully this bill will include funding to assist smaller LE agencies. Kudos to Governor Carney for his proactive approach towards supporting police departments in Delaware."
$5.2 million will go towards the body-worn camera program in the 2022 fiscal year.
"This is something law enforcement has wanted for many years, I can even tell you being from a small department it was cost-prohibited to us,” said Police Chief Laura Giles, a Member of the Delaware Police Chiefs Council.
Governor Carney says the body cameras are critical for law enforcement to do their jobs and for communities to be safe.
The law states the council on police training must create regulations for body worn cameras by January 15, 2022, so that there will be "widespread and consistent" use next year.