I read with great interest your article on the proposed "test" of body cameras on Baltimore police officers ("Panel urges test of body cameras for city police," Feb. 19). It seems that once again, city leaders have a warped sense of priorities and their ability to pay for them.
At a time when Baltimore's public school system is reporting an approximately $60 million deficit and contemplates layoffs, it seems odd that the city would embark on a six-month test of the cameras that will cost a reported $1.4 million and at least $8 million annually to fully implement. One can only imagine the ballooning administrative costs the city will incur when every police interaction with the public is public record. It will be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests and requests to be used as evidence in nearly every criminal court proceeding.
The fact of the matter is that Baltimore can't afford to waste money testing something that just really is not mission critical. Aging infrastructure, schools, homelessness and many other concerns are certainly greater needs than police body cameras that come with a long and almost impossible-to-resolve list of complications. With so many needs and so little money available to fund them, difficult choices have to be made. It would seem our city's leaders are incapable of making them.
For over 200 years, the Baltimore City Police Department and the City of Baltimore have survived without body cameras on sworn officers. I think, given the competing priorities, that it could survive without them a bit longer.
Peter Moulder, Towson