Support is growing for police body cameras in S.C.

South Carolina lawmakers are preparing to tackle bills that would require all police officers statewide to wear clip-on body cameras after a bystander shot a video of a North Charleston police officer fatally shooting an unarmed man.

Equipping officers with body-worn cameras has the support from top politicians, including Gov. Nikki Haley, and state police and legal groups, including the S.C. Law Enforcement Officers’ Association, S.C. Sheriffs’ Association and S.C. Bar.

But details need to be worked out.

Issues not addressed in proposed legislation include how long to store recordings, whether officers not on patrol must wear cameras and when videos must remain private to protect victims and informants, law enforcement and legal advocates said.

“When do you turn them on?” said Susan Dunn, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in South Carolina.

“You need to be consistent or people will say, ‘Why are you recording me now?’ ”

Body-worn cameras on officers will not necessarily prevent another shooting like the one in North Charleston, a law enforcement leader said.

“It’s not a perfect solution,” Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said. “But we should look for any improvement.”

State Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington, is the sponsor of a body-worn camera bill that will have a hearing Wednesday before a Senate panel.

Malloy said the cameras could reduce citizen complaints about police officers, who would be more careful while being recorded and get the chance to review footage to learn from their mistakes.

“What we have to do is improve the culture,” Malloy said, adding most officers do a good job. “We don’t want our state on the front of The New York Times, Washington Post and all over the country.”

Bills calling for police to wear body-worn cameras were filed in the S.C. House and Senate in December, sparked by anger over the deaths of a pair of unarmed men at the hands of police officers in Missouri and New York.

“If (Slager) had a body camera, we don’t know if he would have pulled his weapon,” Malloy said. “(But) I think it changes attitudes.”

Some S.C. law enforcement agencies already are testing body-worn cameras that supplement video recorders mounted in police vehicles.

▪  The Columbia Police Department last year started putting cameras on a dozen officers patrolling in the city’s entertainment districts. The city plans to expand that test soon to 25 officers, department spokesman Jennifer Timmon said.

▪  The S.C. Department of Public Safety, a Cabinet agency that reports directly to Gov. Haley and includes the Highway Patrol, has bought 58 body-worn cameras and testing started in February, agency spokeswoman Sherri Iacobelli said.

▪  At least five county sheriff’s departments have some deputies wearing body-worn cameras, said Jarrod Bruder, executive director of the S.C. Sheriffs’ Association.

A big question is the cost.

Outfitting all of Public Safety’s 1,150 officers with body-worn cameras would cost about $2.2 million to set up and $1.5 million a year after that, Iacobelli said.

This story was originally published April 14, 2015 at 11:28 PM with the headline "Support is growing for police body cameras in S.C.."