Healey 'open' to idea of police body cameras
Attorney General Maura Healey on Tuesday said she is "open" to the idea of having police officers in the state wear body cameras, though she highlighted several questions she wants answered first.
"I am generally supportive but I'll say this, it's more complicated than people might appreciate in the first instance," Healey said during her monthly radio appearance on WGBH.
"When you approach somebody and you're wearing a body camera, you need to think also about their privacy, the privacy of a crime victim, the privacy of a witness to that crime. You need to think about things that aren't particularly exciting, but are important. How are you going to store and capture that data and then who is going to have access to that data?"
Healey said her office is working with the National Association of Attorneys General to study the issue at the national level, and recently reviewed a report by the Massachusetts Police Chiefs Association and Massachusetts Major City Chiefs that addressed the issue of body cameras.
"It's an important discussion here and nationally. I think you've seen a willingness on the part of police departments in our state to engage in that discussion, and I think that's terrific," the attorney general said. "I think you've seen a number of chiefs express support for body cameras, you've seen other chiefs who want to learn more, learn from some departments that have body cameras in use."
Last month, new State Police Colonel Richard McKeon said the State Police will continue to explore the possible use of body cameras on troopers, an idea Senate President Stanley Rosenberg has voiced support for after incidents inside and outside Massachusetts where police actions have come into question.
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