This Monday, President Barack Obama has announced that the US police will get upgraded through a multitude of ways, one of them being the purchase of 50.000 police body cameras. In this way officers will provide an accurate record of their actions. The White House will alocate a sum of 263 million dollars and from this, 75 million will go into surveillance. The rest of the funding will be for police outreach programs that serve as conduits between the local departments and their respective communities.
Obama also has in mind a system in which the federal government will correctly distribute military equipment to local police. This, no doubt, is a direct result after the Ferguson incident where police officer Darren Wilson shot an unarmed 18-year old named Michael Brown. Better ways of keeping tabs on the authorities will ensure a more structured and trustworthy law enforcement.In this way Obama’s administration considers that this solution will “promote effective crime reduction while building public trust.” Numerous police departments, the one in Ferguson included, have attained cheap military equipment from Iraq and Afghanistan,such as gas masks, stun guns, millitary bullets and even military wear. These are a requirement though excessive use of them will not have a beneficial outcome for neither parties.
There is no constant or fixed set of rules for a local police department to use this military equipment as Obama has revealed that five federal departments distribute gear in an uneven manner. Surely, taking such drastic measures as adopting a military appearance have served in the past but only in a meaningful way. Press secretary Josh Earnest brought up the Boston Marathon bombing stating that the equipment used in that situation “was properly used and was done in a way that would both protect the community but also protect the law enforcement officers that were responding to the situation,”
Obama wants for his order to come together in the next 3 moths. Each department will have to make lists of equipment that police officers are allowed to use. Also, an intense training for the use of this equipment will come into play. Furthermore Obama expects that all departments will make inventory for this equipment that has been sold or given to local authorities.