The overriding issue surrounding police conduct and accountability is the fact that law enforcement officers work for the public. Whether talking about police pursuits or the use of force or the implementation of body-worn cameras, effectively protecting our community must focus on meeting the needs of residents.
That should be the foundation for assessing the effectiveness of body cameras. As a recent article from Columbian reporter Becca Robbins detailed, the Vancouver Police Department implemented a bodycam program one year ago, providing time for a reasonable examination of the efforts.
“It has been successful, I think, better than we expected,” Deputy Chief Troy Price said. “Any new system has its challenges during the rollout. … But we believe we have our systems in place now to handle the kind of data that comes in.”
No system for holding public officials accountable is foolproof, and The Columbian has argued editorially that body cameras are necessary but imperfect. They can provide information but should not be expected to answer all questions when members of the public raise questions about police actions.
Meanwhile, video also can protect officers from false claims of wrongdoing and provide protection for the vast majority of officers who perform their jobs with honor.
In 2021, research led by the University of Chicago Crime Lab found that complaints against police dropped by 17 percent when cameras were employed. This is partly due to a decline in the use of force; it also is due to the fact that false accusations are less likely when some factual documentation is available.
“That’s hopeful but not a panacea,” a co-author of the study said. “Body-worn cameras are a useful part of the response but not a solution by themselves.”
Nationally, many jurisdictions have adopted camera programs, some in the wake of scrutiny that followed the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. At the state level, the Legislature in recent years has passed a series of measures related to the use of force and police pursuits. And locally, four fatal shootings by Vancouver police in 2019 raised public concerns about police actions and accountability.
Such scrutiny is necessary but requires constant assessment and adjustment to strike the proper balance between the rights of suspects and the ability of officers to perform their duties.
Contrary to some political rhetoric, police departments throughout Washington have not been defunded, allowing criminality to run rampant. Many law enforcement agencies instead have seen increased funding in an effort to attract and retain officers; multiple studies have shown that Washington has among the lowest per-capita rates of officers. Meanwhile, many departments also have reconsidered their policies and implemented accountability measures such as body cameras and dash cameras.
In Vancouver, those measures have been accompanied by efforts to better involve the community in developing department policy. One official for the local NAACP gave credit to the Vancouver Police Department but added: “I still want to hold them accountable. It’s not like, ‘Oh, we’re all good.’ You’re still held accountable for things that happen that are not supposed to be happening. But that’s the right direction for me.”
Accountability does not come with a final destination but involves constantly evolving goals. Continuing to move in the right direction requires oversight from the public. After all, officers work for us.
