As cable-news pundits ask why cops in Baltimore aren’t wearing body cameras, here’s your answer — Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake vetoed a city council bill mandating their use back in December 2014:
.@MayorSRB carried out her promise and vetoed the body camera bill and plastic bag ban: http://t.co/PbLSaSR03P
— The Baltimore Sun (@baltimoresun) December 2, 2014
FLASHBACK: Baltimore mayor wants to stop police body camera bill — RT USA http://t.co/ztsqhPSD3T
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) April 28, 2015
https://twitter.com/tristanloper/status/592910586813513729
4 months ago Baltimore Mayor vetoed police body cameras. I bet she wishes officers who arrested F. Gray had them. http://t.co/469v3J1kmO
— Darren Wigfield (@DarrenWigfield) April 28, 2015
And this tweet from December is prophetic:
The Mayor of #Baltimore just did two of the top things she will most regret in her life http://t.co/NE0a28b8c5 #plasticbags #bodycameras
— Zafo Jones (@zafojones) December 2, 2014
From the Baltimore Sun as to why:
In a letter to the council, Rawlings-Blake said she supports having police wear body cameras but opposes the legislation, in part, she argues, because the council does not have the authority to impose the requirement.
“The council’s power does not and should not extend to legislating the operations of the police department,” she wrote. “I would be equally as concerned with an ordinance that mandated the use of a specific type of bullet.”
The mayor said she will ask the council to authorize funding for a body camera program early next year. She recently convened a task force to study the issue and said she wants to wait for the group to release its findings.
So, how’s that study coming Ms. Mayor?
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