Organizers claim that 1,950 people so far have signed the petition that asks the city to buy the equipment next year, as opposed to plans to get them between 2022 and 2023.
“The time line for the body cameras should be moved up significantly,” Eau Claire resident Jennifer Goldbach told the council via teleconference.
Not only would the cameras be good for residents by creating more transparency in local law enforcement, but also as tools for police officer training and evidence in court cases, she said.
The request comes after several rallies on racial injustice have happened in Eau Claire in response to the May 25 death of Minneapolis man George Floyd. A Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes while the man was on the ground and handcuffed. The officer and three others were fired and now face criminal charges. Protests and nationwide debates over policing policies and institutional racism were inspired by Floyd’s death.
Christina Funk said while other communities are talking about de-funding their police departments, that’s not the route she’s seeking for Eau Claire.
She’s urging that body cameras be part of a plan to enhance officer interactions and build community trust.
“Approving funds for this is only the first step,” she said.
The city has been planning to buy cameras for several years and documents from prior years show Eau Claire had expected to have them by now.
“The funds for this have been pushed out each year,” Funk said.
City officials initially had thought it would cost as little as $80,000 to buy cameras and put them into operation, but further research has pushed the estimate higher due to data storage needs and the price of technology.
A proposed five-year plan for Eau Claire city projects spending now shows $555,000 in 2022 and $250,000 in 2023 for upgrading the current squad car video cameras and the addition of body cameras for the police department.
That plan has not yet been finalized though, and the council is slated to discuss it after its regular meeting this afternoon.
Funk also advocated for a zero-tolerance policy to go with the body-worn cameras — forbidding officers from turning them off or obscuring their view intentionally.
She also is seeking some additional training for officers as well as research to determine what degree of institutional racism exists in Eau Claire’s public sector.
After talking with the police chief, Funk said she’s learned that local policies and training include active listening, de-escalation and crisis intervention. However, she said there’s no specific training in antiracism given to officers, which is something she’d want to see added.
Funk also wants to see Eau Claire analyze policing practices and the public education system to see how they are doing in terms of racial disparities.
“It would be naive of us to think we’re unaffected here in Eau Claire in our institutions,” she said.
©2020 the Leader-Telegram (Eau Claire, Wis.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
