Baltimore's move to provide body cameras for police should yield significantly more data about officers' interactions with residents, a key issue in lawsuits alleging brutality and misconduct, according to the mayoral task force that studied the issue.
The city should track how often residents receive payouts in lawsuits that involve interactions captured on camera, the task force said last week.
The city also should collect data about cases in which prosecutors use the information to obtain convictions, the task force said. Data will likely be collected to show examples of officers being exonerated from such allegations.
The group suggested that the Police Department collect statistics about cameras being used in use of force cases, disciplinary convictions and other civilian complaints.
The 16-member task force recommended that the city conduct a pilot program before rolling out the cameras to patrol officers citywide.
The new data would be welcomed by department critics, who say the agency is slow to provide operational information.
Calls for body cameras increased last summer after a city surveillance camera recorded an officer beating a man at a bus stop. Meanwhile, a Baltimore Sun investigation revealed that the city had paid nearly $6 million since 2011 to settle 102 lawsuits alleging police brutality and other misconduct.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts say that lawsuits and complaints against officers have decreased under their oversight. But they have not provided detailed data when frequently citing the decline during news conferences in recent months. Batts said he is looking at ways to provide more information.
Of the seven body camera programs noted by the task force, the group found that police rolled out pilot programs lasting from six months to a year in Washington, Philadelphia, Denver and Mesa, Ariz.
Baltimore's six-month pilot program for 100 officers would cost an estimated $1.4 million, the task force said. In addition to the cameras and infrastructure upgrade, the city would need to hire a project manager, an engineer and a help desk analyst. The total cost for the salaries is estimated at $242,000.
A citywide program would cost $5.5 million to $7.9 million yearly to furnish cameras to 1,500 patrol officers, depending on the type and number of cameras used, the task force said.
Although Rawlings-Blake and leaders of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 3 have disagreed in recent months over how to reform the force, both sides have found common ground on cameras.
Union President Gene Ryan served on the task force and applauded the mayor's cautious approach to developing a program.
"To deny the probable advent of body-worn cameras into the law enforcement profession would be unrealistic," Ryan said. "In fact, it is clear that in many cases the cameras will be an asset to our profession."