The Town of Perryville has received a $2,400 grant from the Local Government Insurance Trust to help with the cost of equipping all town police officers with body cameras.
Town officials are not rushing to wire up the officers, however, because they want time to gather residents' input and develop the proper policy for the use of the cameras, as well as the storage of and public access to the footage.
"There are a lot of policy issues before we actually suit folks up with those body cameras," Mayor Jim Eberhardt said during a town commissioners' meeting Tuesday evening.
The grant from LGIT, which provides insurance to the county and municipal governments, who are its members, would cover about half the cost of putting body cameras on the town's 11 officers.
Eberhardt said it would cost about $500 per camera, and town funds would be used to cover the difference. He said the town received the grant about two weeks ago.
The concept of putting small video cameras on police officers, which would be used to record interactions between the officers and citizens, has gained traction in recent months after the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. and Eric Garner in New York at the hands of officers during 2014.
Grand juries declined to indict the officers involved in either case. A bystander recorded video of Garner arguing with New York officers who then subdued him using tactics some members of the public considered excessive and contributed to his death.
His final words: "I can't breathe!" have become a rallying cry for those fighting to curb what they see as police brutality.
Advocates for police body cameras see them as a way to reduce citizen complaints about alleged officer misconduct.
Police union leaders and privacy advocates around the country have expressed concerns about how cameras would be used and the potential for recording sensitive or graphic footage.
Eberhardt noted body cameras have recorded the slaying of one police officer. He also expressed a concern about any footage the town provides to the public ending up online.
Perryville resident Sharron Huffstutler, who is a paramedic with the Cecil County Department of Emergency Services and a volunteer with the Community Fire Company of Perryville – she is also the mother of the town's newest police officer – noted cameras could record people receiving medical treatment as officers interact with EMS workers at a scene or in an ambulance.
EMS workers must keep all information about people they treat confidential in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPPA.
"A patient's information and privacy could be at risk, so [it's] something to keep in mind," Huffstutler said during the public comment portion of the meeting.
She noted later that the cameras, however, can be switched off.
Baltimore County officials are studying body cameras for their officers, and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake vetoed legislation passed by the City Council last November in support of body cameras.
Eberhardt said the matter will be on the agenda of the next town work session, which is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 17. The mayor noted that date is subject to change, since three of the town's four commissioners could be absent that week.
Members of the public can make comments during work sessions.
New officer sworn in
Eberhardt swore in Police Officer Richard Huffstutler Tuesday. Huffstutler, 27, grew up in Perryville, and he graduated from the Maryland Transportation Authority Police Training Academy Jan. 8.
Huffstutler is one of 10 current town police officers. The mayor said later that an 11th spot must still be filled on the force.
The mayor noted town officials have worked to recruit local people for the Perryville Police Department since it was founded about a decade ago.
"We wanted to make that investment in some local folks, and I believe we have really found the right guy," he said of Huffstutler.