120,000 Sign Online Petition for National Law Requiring Police to Wear Cameras
An officer in Ferguson, Missouri. (Reuters)
A petition calling for all police to wear cameras created after the shooting death of Michael Brown has surpassed 100,000 signatures, the amount that requires a response from the White House.
Created on Aug. 13, the petition reached its goal in less than a week, first hitting the threshold Tuesday night.
The petition calls for a “Mike Brown law,” which would rein in police misconduct by adding cameras to police uniforms. The tactic would, according to the petition, “not only [deter] police misconduct (i.e. brutality, profiling, abuse of power), but to ensure that all police are following procedure.”
Below is the complete text:
“Create a bill, sign into law, and set aside funds to require all state, county, and local police, to wear a camera. Due to the latest accounts of deadly encounters with police, We the People, petition for the Mike Brown Law. The law shall be made in an effort to not only detour police misconduct (i.e. brutality, profiling, abuse of power), but to ensure that all police are following procedure, and to remove all question, from normally questionable police encounters. As well, as help to hold all parties within a police investigation, accountable for their actions.”
The city of Ferguson released a statement Tuesday stating that the local police would most likely be outfitted with such vest cameras.
“We plan to learn from this tragedy, as we further provide for the safety of our residents and businesses and progress our community through reconciliation and healing,” the statement read.
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Of course, not all White House petitions have received an official administration response. So far, President Obama has tread lightly around the subject, acknowledging in an address Monday that “a gulf of mistrust exists between locals and law enforcement,” and adding that the police and the military must be kept distinct.
“There is a big difference between our military and our law enforcement,” he said. “There will be bipartisan interest in re-examining those programs.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the petition has accumulated more than 120,000 signatures.
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/08/120000-people-want-the-white-house-to-pass-mike-browns-law/378856/
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