House Dem calls for police body cameras

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that police officers should wear body cameras to ensure accountability in light of the shooting in Ferguson, Mo.

A Missouri grand jury decided Monday not to indict Darren Wilson, a white police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, in August. Schiff argued that body cameras and a more diverse police force could help avoid a repeat of the Ferguson episode.

{mosads}”That will not be an easy task, but a good start would be committing to further diversify our police forces so they are more representative of the communities they police, and equipping officers with body cameras — cameras that may have put to rest the fevered speculation that has characterized this case, or better yet, avoided the deadly altercation altogether,” Schiff wrote on Facebook.

In any case, Schiff said the shooting represented a larger dialogue about racially charged perceptions of law enforcement. 

“Brown’s death and this new spate of violence has exposed anew the deep mistrust between many Americans, particularly those of color, and law enforcement,” Schiff said.